We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aida Miró. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aida below.
Hi Aida, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I come from the world of graffiti, a very masculine world, where I learned to build a shield to be stronger and one of them. Painting riskily in places without permission (trains, subways, walls…) was pure adrenaline and an addiction. An addiction that I later replaced by the adrenaline of aerial acrobatics in the circus, where I spent two intense years. In addition to the streets, I always painted in my studio, at home, wherever I lived. That intimacy in which you can express yourself artistically was and still is very necessary for me, to connect with myself, a kind of meditation. In the circus I discovered clown and then Butoh dance, where I decided to train with Japanese masters in different parts of the world. I traveled to places where I could take classes with them. Both disciplines, clown and Butoh, are extremely therapeutic. At least for me that part is what I find most interesting, and it helped me a lot.
Getting to know oneself takes time, dedication, and the desire to do personal work. That in time is beneficial, even if it is painful.
There are many disappointments, experiences in which my self-esteem was lower and lower, always looking for love, to be loved, when I did not love myself enough, allowing me to fall lower and lower.
Resilience has always come from art.
Dancing Butoh or painting is where I can express all those emotions that I am not able to do with words, is my best form of expression.
Sexism and the injustices it entails towards women have always caused in me a fury that I believe comes from further back in my existence. Over time I have decided that my mission in art is to fight it and the best way is to pay tribute to women, to vindicate their importance in society. And not only that, but to elevate the sacred feminine.
There have been many strong women in my path who have helped me in difficult moments, from whom I have learned that they have been a great inspiration.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a professional painter, I paint large format spray murals, oil paintings and mixed media. Sometimes I do butoh dance performances, but more for pleasure. I love my work and being able to make a living from it. I started painting graffiti in the early 90’s in my hometown, Ibiza, when there was no internet and there were no other references than a magazine that came from Barcelona and some graffitis by a tourist who came to the island in summer. But I discovered the real graffiti when I went to study in Valencia, painting with others in trains, subways, walls,… I learned to handle the spray paint well, to be fast at painting and to live endless adventures. At that time I was studying Fine Arts, but I had much more fun and interest painting in the street. In college I learned to paint in oil and other interesting techniques. But when I finished my degree I went to a circus school in Barcelona to learn circus techniques, for two intense and very fun years. I especially liked aerial acrobatics. I wanted to unite both worlds, not to stop painting, and I decided to do a postgraduate course in set and costume design for theater in England. I stayed there working in theater, circus, film and TV productions for two intense years.
I didn’t like to live in England because of the terrible weather. I left all this work to travel the world on my own, and moved to Mexico for a year. I came back to Ibiza and took up circus again in a clown school. I discovered Butoh dance and it was learning that dance that motivated my next trips to learn with different Japanese masters. I found in clown and Butoh a very therapeutic part that helped me a lot in my personal growth.
Then I decided to do a PhD in Madrid, on social integration through art, Art Therapy and Art Education. My research focused mainly on Butoh dance, combined with other disciplines such as clown and painting, which I had been doing for years. After a long time in India I moved to New York, a city that captivated me and where I stayed to live. I found my place, my partner, the love of my life. There I have been able to develop my career as a painter and muralist. I am still based in Ibiza, and I found the perfect balance living in these two places.
I really enjoy painting large format murals, I don’t like to paint small, I love the speed of the spray, being in the street. It is very different from the solitude and intimacy of the studio. I like that with murals you transform spaces, you create something visible for everyone, for them. There is a surprise factor for those who walk in front of it, they find it unexpectedly. It is no longer graffiti, which is only to be seen among the graffiti artists, incessantly repeating your name everywhere. Transforming spaces for people seems much more interesting to me, although of course it doesn’t have the adrenaline of painting in a place without permission like graffiti. But being able to dedicate myself to it professionally is a great satisfaction. I continue to paint smaller works for exhibitions, and I also enjoy those moments of intimacy in the studio that are so necessary.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The first is being a woman in such a masculine work area, learn from them, although they are much more competitive, there is more camaraderie. Between us I feel that there is a lot of envy and that is not good. That envy serves to become a source of inspiration and admiration.
The second is that art is a form of self-expression, that you don’t do it to please or sell. Obviously when you are commissioned to create a mural you have to think about what it will contribute to the place and its people, since it is for them. But don’t let it be for you your own personal reason, something that you need to express.
The third is knowing how to work alone, without depending on anyone. Artistic collaborations can be wonderful sometimes, you learn a lot by working with others. But don’t let that be something you depend on.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
I try to focus on work. I go in the sea if I can (that helps me a lot), walk in the woods or in nature, surrounded by animals.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aidamiro.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/aidamiro
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidamiroart
Image Credits
Photo portrait by Alberto Mori
