Meet Ixchel Estrada | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ixchel Estrada and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ixchel, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
“I would like to do with my hands what my eyes would like to see”, I love having the freedom to make a visual proposal based on my ability to draw in my own way, in my case with cut and paste.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I love dedicating myself to creating from what I am and what I can do, from my language and possibility, and I am grateful for the opportunity I have had with projects and brands that have trusted my work. It has not been easy because there are always challenges and a lot of work involved, and even personal situations that are not seen but that make us who we are, in my case my eyes, knowing since I was a child that something that seems common to everyone becomes a longing when you don’t have, in my case, being able to see… over the years I had the opportunity to reduce the problem with surgery and today with the passage of time I have a pair of glasses again, some diopters and the hope that what happened to me will never come back. Finish this year with the selection of my latest book “Eu sou a monstra” by Hilda Hilst as part of the WHITE RAVENS Catalog
it was incredible, to know that this book I made for Companhia das Letrinhas in Brazil is now part of the archive of the International Jugendbibliothek that year after year establishes a selection with what best published for children and young people in the world is the best thing that could happen to me.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would pack a suitcase full of materials, food and kidnap you in the woods, here near where I am you can change scenery in no time. There is nothing like the forest, the silence that allows you to hear who is with you, the musty smell that fills your lungs with every breath, the cold water that you can feel if you come to a river, and a green land that stretches into the distance and invites you to sit there. I pull out my favorite salad, which has an assortment of lettuce, berries, raspberry sauce, caramelized pecans, and a bit of goat cheese, and while we eat I open up the section of the suitcase where I keep all my colors and my tools to cut and paste, we’d have a great time. We will have a week in a cabin, and we will go to the markets to eat local food, we will walk a lot through the forest always accompanied by a snack and at night we will lie down on the grass to listen to crickets and see fireflies. Don’t forget your favorite tenis and a jacket because it will be cold.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I dedicate it to my favorite couple Alfonso and Alma, who since I was a child gave me a pair of wings to fly, who helped me to experiment with what came into my head, who did not have no for an answer (even if they thought so) and on the contrary they always said GO!

Website: https://www.ixchelestrada.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ixchel.estrada/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ixchelestradastudio

Image Credits
Illustrations for books, and magazines