NEGATIVE SPACE

PAOLA ZOCCARATO & CATALINA PARRA

 
 
 

Catalina Parra has always held a fondness for drawing. She graduated with a Fine Arts degree from Barcelona University before going on to complete an MA in illustration at Elisava School of Design and Engineering. Her influences are vast, “I’m inspired by soviet art, 1960s jazz and fashion illustration from that period, too,” she explains. “I always seek to capture something special and by sharing it, allow people to see what I see.”

Lake | 2019

 
 
 

David

 

Her work could be described as minimalist to the extent that she works with limited colour palettes applied in blocks with sharp, clean lines that gesture toward principles of graphic design. “I studied screenprinting and two-tone palettes are quite traditional in this technique so I started to use it in my work.” What is particularly striking about Catalina’s illustrations are the figures or landscapes carved out with negative space; her subjects are, paradoxically, exposed by their absence. Take her work Lake, for example; the empty house-shaped space at the core of the piece transforms the shapes around it from abstract contours into an immediately recognisable kind of abbreviated landscape.

 
 
 

For Catalina, the bulk of the creative process takes place in the mind, “I don’t sketch much,” she told Cluster,” I do a lot of research and think about my ideas until I have something that works - only then do I start drawing.” Having already calculated the composition internally, works are often finalised in the first or second draft. Through Cluster, Catalina has found an international community of like-minded artists, “I really wanted to expand my network outside of Spain, so the experience has been lovely,” she added. Currently, she is working on an interactive kids book aimed at helping children learn about compound words.

Kiss

 
 
 

Zoe

 

Similarly, the work of Paola Zoccarato embraces the power of absence. A former architect, Paola has always shown a liking to drawing and painting but didn’t realize these ambitions until she stopped working in order to travel. During long journeys, she began to sketch on a tablet or small notebooks as a way to document her changing surroundings. “An image is an incomplete suggestion that allows the beholder space to imagine other details,” she explains, “everything becomes clear in the void, negative space makes explicit numerous sensations.”

 
 

Universe | 2020

 

Her work seeks to uncover the divine feminine within nature. She sees this as a multiplicious force; simultaneously tender and strong, as a life-bearing force that is called to defend the earth. This nuance is expressed through the mystery of negative space – a space that can bear whatever complexities the viewer brings to it. Through sketching, Paola records her ideas, whether it be a facial expression, a situation or a natural image, before transforming them digitally, “different programmes help me to create associations that didn’t automatically arise before,” she added.

Fragile world | 2020

 
 
 

Paola joined Cluster in order to learn from artists with different backgrounds, and better understand her own creative processes. “Now, I’ve started working more with colour, though always maintaining my interest in nature,” she told us. She continues to search for balance through her work that she hopes to see reflected in the wider world.

The Ladder | 2020

 
 

In the age of information, it’s easy to lose sight of oneself. While social media confronts us daily with an oversaturated scroll of carefully curated personas, these artists remind us of the value of space, suggesting that, it is perhaps what we bring into the outline reveals us most.

 
 
 

Work by both Paola Zoccarato and Catalina Parra can be viewed on the Cluster Illustration platform
and purchased through our Cluster Illustration Online Shop.

Thank you for reading,
Stephanie Gavan & Cluster Team.