MUNTHE ART MONDAY: ALICIA GIMENO

Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.

My name is Alicia Gimeno, I am a Spanish artist based in Barcelona, and my practice moves between painting and sculpture. My work is rooted in a gestural, minimal language where the act of drawing becomes almost meditative. I am interested in reduction - in removing everything that is not essential to allow the gesture, the material, and the space to speak.

I develop compositions that explore balance, tension, and silence. The forms often suggest organic or architectural presences, existing somewhere between structure and intuition. Rather than representing, I aim to evoke - creating spaces that feel contained, suspended, and open to interpretation.
My work is deeply influenced by notions of emptiness, rhythm, and the relationship between presence and absence, where each gesture holds both control and surrender.

Alicia is wearing our LATTER BELT and LALALU SILK TOP.

What has been the most challenging aspect of being a woman in the arts?

One of the most challenging aspects has been navigating the balance between my practice and motherhood. Both require a high level of presence, and there is an ongoing negotiation between time, energy, and focus. Rather than seeing this as a limitation, it has forced me to become more precise and intentional in my work. My time in the studio is more concentrated, and decisions tend to be clearer, more essential. In a way, this has strengthened my practice. There is also a broader structural challenge in the arts, where continuity and visibility often depend on sustained presence. Interruptions — such as those that come with motherhood — can affect that rhythm. But I have learned to build my work from a place of consistency over time, rather than constant exposure. Ultimately, it has been about redefining what commitment looks like, and finding a way to maintain a strong, coherent practice within a more complex life structure.

Alicia is wearing our LATTER BELT, SUSSIMA JACKET and SUMATRA PANTS.

What would you like people to notice in your art?

I’m interested in how the work is experienced rather than what is explicitly understood. If anything, I would like people to notice the tension between gesture and space — how a single movement can hold both strength and restraint. There is a quiet balance in the work, where presence and absence coexist, and where what is not there becomes as important as what is. I hope the viewer becomes aware of the rhythm, the pauses, and the subtle shifts within the composition. It’s not about reading an image, but about entering it — allowing time, silence, and perception to unfold slowly. Ultimately, I’m interested in creating a space that is felt rather than explained.

Could you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?

I have never approached my work through the lens of gender, but rather through the development of a precise visual language. My practice is grounded in gesture, balance, and reduction, and those concerns exist independently of any category. That said, I am aware that being a woman can influence how the work is perceived. Qualities such as subtlety, restraint, or sensitivity are sometimes framed within a certain narrative, but for me they are formal decisions, not identity statements. I’m interested in maintaining that clarity.

What matters in my work is the tension between control and intuition, presence and absence. It is a space where meaning is not imposed, but suggested. In that sense, I prefer the work to remain open, allowing each viewer to enter it without predefined interpretations. If anything, my position has been to move beyond definitions and to focus on building a body of work that holds its own with strength and coherence.

Can you name some other female artists that inspires you and explain why they do so?

I feel particularly drawn to the work of Kazuyo Sejima. Her approach to space, light, and structure resonates deeply with my own practice. There is a clarity and quietness in her architecture that I find very powerful - a way of creating presence through reduction. What interests me is how her work dissolves boundaries, allowing space to feel both open and contained at the same time. This balance between lightness and structure is something I also explore in my work, where gesture and emptiness coexist. More than a direct influence, it is an affinity in sensibility - a shared interest in subtlety, precision, and the emotional weight of space.