Rufina is an artist with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona. She resides in the Canary Islands, Spain. She has expanded her artwork abroad, traveling internationally to acquire external influences, which have contributed notably in the development of her work. Throughout her fruitful career, Rufina has participated in numerous artistic and literary courses and workshops, one of these workshops being with acclaimed painters Lucio Muñoz and Rafael Canogar.
In 1990, Rufina delivered an interesting lecture entitled “Alphabet for an Island, “ which constitutes the beginning of her reflection on the nature of the primitive garden. Later, she developed ideas resulting in the collective project “Hesperides: The Inner Garden (2001) and in the solo exhibitions “Archeology of the Garden” and “Cartographies of the Garden”, projects exhibited in art centers in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Senegal, France and Japan; advancing in the meditative idea and creating a geography of paradises lost in the memory, through the creation of a group of paintings and sculptural pieces where the symbolic vegetable element is predominant.
Fascinated by the elements of Art and Nature, she creates “Jardín de dos Orillas” (Garden of Both Sides), a project which celebrates Life and Art together with Dr. Maasaki Hatsumi, a Japanese artist who is a recipient of numerous prestigious awards such as “Living Treasure”, where he keeps and guards his cultural traditions. During this period, she establishes links that give rise to a dialogue and the creation of singular works with marked oriental character.
Another idea deeply rooted in her work is the Myth and the Greco-Latin tradition, placing once again her speech from the insular experience, a place of special relevance in the connection between Europe and the rest of the world.
The island, that microcosm of ideal paradise, is at once a place surrounded by an uncertain sea, attracting new cultures and traditions which enrich both, the islanders as well as travelers.
In the materialization of this idea, two other great projects were generated: “Oceanicos Azules” (Oceanic Blue) and “Cartografías del Agua” (Water Cartographies). In this case, Santana displays her mastery and her reflection on water-related myths, with works of great format dominated by the blue like the mural “Oceanicos Azules” (2007) located in the Hotel Balneario Blancafort in Barcelona, or “El Viaje del Heroe” (The Journey of the Hero), a project made for the Exhibition “Cartografías del Agua”, held in 2015 at the Frost Art Museum in Miami, Florida.
Another significant project about the landscape of the Canary Islands is “Canarias, Paisaje Intímo “(Canarias, In-time Landscape), 2010-2011; this project was sponsored by the Government of the Canary Islands, in which she developed a great series of paintings of different landscapes of the islands with an important use of color and a technique converging figurative and abstract styles.
In a complementary way, Santana has throughout her career, done numerous solo exhibitions and has participated in international art fairs leading her to expand her work throughout Europe, including Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland and England, as well as in United States and Japan.
The theoretical basis of her work, her technical knowledge and experience gained over thirty plus years of professional practice, has afforded her the opportunity to deliver lectures, activities, and courses at the University of Barcelona, in Florida and Boston, as well as private counseling and recycling courses for professional artists and amateurs alike.
She also has worked on numerous editions of catalogs and illustrations of books
(“Book of the Artist” & “Art and Objects of Art”).
She is the founder of the “Escuela del Sol” (School of the Sun), a multidisciplinary experience for the dissemination of Art, Science and Spirituality.
Currently residing between Madrid and the island of Lanzarote, where she has her workshop next to the sculptor, Francisco Curbelo, in which she develops her artistic and pedagogical works. Rufina is a tireless traveler to exciting destinations which offer her answers to the questions her art poses to her.
For more information: www.rufinasantana.com
