Yudit Vidal: From Trinidad, To the World

Yudit Vidal Faife is a young Cuban artist who graduated in Restoration and Preservation of Chattels at the Higher Institute of Art (ISA), Havana. She decided to live in Trinidad back in 1986, and from her always-crowded Pincelada Colonial Gallery-Workshop, proposes an oneiric vision, a dreamy one, of the surrounding world, mankind and its physical environment, from an uninhibited use of color and free drawing. She has showcased her works I solo and collective exhibitions in Cuba, Holland, France, Italy, Germany, among other countries. AxE News recently had the opportunity of getting to know her viewpoints on some “burning” matters related to the Cuban contemporary visualidad…

Yudit, most of artists that study at the Superior Institute of Art prefer to develop their career in the capital, what ideally allows them to have a better connection with the international universe of art, and specifically with the market. What do you make of this phenomenon from your own experience?

The professionalism and range of cognitive field entailed by the graduation in the Institute, has no limits. In one way or another you feel the possibility of rubbing shoulders with fashion trends in Cuba and overseas, taking into account that internationally certified courses are given at the ISA. However, I believe that the inspiration source for each of us can be found where you “feel” it the most. So far, Trinidad is that place for me. Therefore, I don’t think that, in order to move forward and enter the market, you necessarily have to become imbued with the daily whirl of every metropolis. You do have to keep yourself posted on the latest events and get information from Internet and the relations around you. In my city, I have a public that follows me, loves me and in the rest of Cuba, if they don’t know, they have at least heard of me.

My work has represented our country in national and international events: 2011n International Pedagogy Congress, Havana International Book Fair, the international project Din A4, InterNoss, Art and Prission, Alba Iulia, among others. Some of my works presently make up the Arte en casa project. My work has been showcased in international galleries in several countries, such as Holland, Germany, Spain, Luxemburg, Italy, Austria, Ecuador, France, United States, and has gained the recognition of institutions like the Luxemburg-Cuba Solidarity Committee, the Universal Circle of Peace Ambassadors, among others. All of which has happening while I live in Trinidad, where the “geographic fatalism” rules, but it’s not unbreakable, only the tenacity and determination to surpass frontiers make you go beyond the distances.

What do you think are the future challenges to be faced by Cuban art?

Changing the fact that the spreading of artistic works isn’t as good as it should be, and that events are focused in province capitals most of the time. Expanding the creation beyond national borders is a hard task, but not an impossible one.

What projects do you suggest to take in so as to integrate or differentiate in a so diverse panorama?

I couldn’t say for sure what my next step in art is going to be. The act of creation comes without planning it. My daily work is aimed at surpassing myself. My personal seal is reflected in the Detalle colonial series. This collection showcases elements of colonial architecture in Trinidad, and the man reappears, the central motive of my work, but in white strokes, drawn with subtle lines to obtain ghostly figures, but not less precise. We can compare certain representations with “negatives of nib drawings”. Other colonial details of the city of Trinidad can also be appreciated, such as closing elements used in that age, reviewing some local legends and histories.