Let’s rewind a bit… Who are Inge and Kike? And why have we brought them together to talk about creative processes?

WHO’S WHO?

Inge is an artist, composer, freelance illustrator (a happy contributor to BizkaiaTech magazine), and choir director. Without calling herself a technologist, she brings Science closer to us through her illustrations, and she is capable of capturing a musical composition (Kandinsky, watch out) on a graphic poster created using a piece of software.

What’s more, Inge was sure.

“Ever since I was little, I knew that I wanted to study at the conservatory. Fine Arts. In my last years there, I decided that I wanted to go for pure theory, and I chose musical composition.”

Kike reminds us of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”. Always so poetic, he made us change our perspective when we asked him about his creative processes (in plural)… and the fact is that they intertwine, increasing the number of possibilities. He doesn’t see any type of dichotomy between Art and Science.

“My work is quite straightforward,” he revealed to us sensibly. “That doesn’t mean that it’s better or worse. Rather it’s a question of how you view creativity: my reason for living is simply the need for creative expression. It has no relationship with any specific activity.”

It has more to do with his way of seeing the world, through permanent observation. There’s no doubt about that.

Inge says that she has gleaned a lot of experience from her personal projects, and this allows her to approach the creative process of commissions and

“lifesaving projects,”

as she calls them.

“I’m lucky that, lately, on the commissions I’ve been getting, people have been asking me for the style they’ve seen on Instagram, the style that identifies me (referring to her work as an illustrator). That makes the creative process easier for me.”

What Inge illustrates leads the viewer to a narrative: she tells you stories through drawings instead of words. She composes not only with notes, but also with graphic elements drawn from her extensive knowledge of codices, bestiaries, and symbology. It’s really cool.

“First, I draw analogically, very small, and what I do is structure the different vignettes, the words. If I have to include a longer message I structure it, and, at the same time, I think about the color palettes.”

Any small thing can trigger her inspiration. Sometimes one word is enough for her to create a world full of interconnected intra-stories.

“On what types of images can I base my work, ensuring that it does not remain static, ensuring that one of the elements of the illustration leads to another, that there is a type of connection, that everything has to do with the theme of the commission, but not with the main element, and that everything remains in an encapsulating environment that makes sense?”

Those are things that she thinks about when starting her research, after having read all the documentation she receives.

“Sometimes I use little invented beings, symbology."

THE CREATIVE PROCESS: BETWEEN RESEARCH AND ART

It amazes us that both are nourished by elements from art. Kike writes poetry and uses hyperbole to emphasize his speech:

“To add to what Inge said, the creative process is a vital necessity. I dedicate my time to the process 367 days a year (of course, I’m exaggerating a bit and being hyperbolic).”

Inge turns to visual metaphors to express herself.

“I represent fears as horrible beings. This thing (referring to her illustration for issue 5 of BizkaiaTech magazine) comes from a codex. It’s supposed to be going around removing insecurities, underestimation, and fears; that’s what each of the three heads stand for. Eyes are also a recurring element. You feel that they’re there, even if they’re in your head.”

Their minds work differently, their processes are different, but both show us that the creative process is perpetual: observing, reflecting, reading, attending conferences, exhibitions… it’s their life.

Everything around us contains something magical that helps us nurture our imaginations and generate new ideas. Graham Wallas said that the famous

“Eureka!”

moment was just a turning point in a 4-phase creative process in which first you must investigate and observe, and this moment of enlightenment is when everything connects and begins to make sense.

Kike is passionate about life, a creative nerd in continuous search of artistic and aesthetic expression. Going against the grain, he gave up Engineering for Physics. Every December he used to experience an existential crisis, until 15 years ago.

“I’m an admirer of great artists and, in my case, at the end of every year I entered into a total existential crisis. It didn’t matter if I was doing poorly or well in the scientific field. I always warned those around me that Kike was leaving. I would say that I was off to Berlin, that I was going to leave my job to live a life of poetry and art,”

he admits, laughing as he tells us this personal anecdote.

“I realized very late that it wasn’t the activity that mattered, but the creativity, always responding with something new. For me, the connection between Science, Art, Technology, and Entrepreneurship has no boundaries.”

THE INVENTIVE PROCESS AND ITS APPLICABILITY (OR NOT)

With this reflection, we realized that ideas are ideas and the important thing is to have them. To create something new, whether it be through artistic expression, or by bringing Art closer to Science through illustration, like Inge; or by showing the world how atoms can be better actors than Hamlet, denying their fundamental laws through quantum theater, like Kike.

The human being seeks self-expression all the time, from oral language to the most refined sculpture by Rodin. Kike, from the perspective of Quantum Physics, found that atoms, photons, light, and quantum computing were the subjects he knew how to best tackle in order to express himself artistically and aesthetically, and then came their practical application.

“We created and gave things a certain practical value, then scientific articles came and showed that what we had invented as a form of aesthetic expression had a technological application.”

Inge tells us that she intertwined Art and Science in an office full of engineers who she saw as very smart, though she couldn’t understand what they were doing.

«That’s where I made the leap, in a grey office, outside my natural environment. They began to ask me for things that I didn’t understand much: windmills, solar panels… and I had to make covers for manuals, to illustrate… to be in contact with a very distant environment with distant people. They weren’t like Kike. “Good thing we’ve brought them together, they really needed to find each other.” Little by little, I discovered the joy of bringing Science closer to me, and I hope I have brought Art closer to Science. For me, the two intertwine very well».

A LABOR OF LOVE

It seems that suffering is synonymous with professionalism. That’s too old-fashioned, right? Well, it depends on who for and in what sectors. In the world of Art, many things are done for free; as Inge says,

“To pad your CV.”

But the world works with currency, money. Kike tells us that he doesn’t really know why they pay him, as he does whatever he wants. We think that if you do whatever you want, working with the care and love with which artists work, that is precisely why you should earn more.

Inge encourages us to value Art financially and free ourselves from guilt when asking for certain amounts of money.

“My way of seeing things changed when I calculated the hours, the volume of work, and what it contributes to society… but what ended up infuriating me in the end were comments like ‘It won’t take you that long’ or ‘It’ll be easy for you to do.’ I take the creative process very seriously. I’ve dedicated many years to doing research, reading, and going to events to continue feeding my curiosity. Art is my life, and I didn’t put up with those types of comments, and that type of misunderstanding, which helped me to assign a value to what I do.”

SO, THEN, ART… WHAT FOR?

Art, presumably, cannot be seen, but it’s always there. It accompanies us in the form of background music, a captivating movement, and decorative paintings. It seems invisible because of its routine nature, but it’s essential.