Rebeca Dorich — Artist Interview | HITMA (2026)

 

Artist Interview — Rebeca Dorich

Visual Artist, Art Educator, and Independent Curator | Lima, Peru

1. Could you introduce yourself as an artist and tell us when your relationship with art began? What inspired you to choose this path?

I am Rebeca Dorich, a Peruvian visual artist, art educator, and independent curator based in Lima. Since childhood, I have felt that creating is an essential part of being human. I always knew I wanted to become an artist, although I cannot identify a precise moment when this decision began. Art was simply part of the life I was growing into.

One of my earliest and most meaningful experiences was accompanying my mother during her training as a teacher. Although her university background was in economics, she continued learning throughout her life and trained in mathematics and art education. When I was around seven or eight, I attended classes with her and joined her summer refresher courses, following the lessons with the same devotion as if I were preparing for my own future as an art educator. Through her, I began to understand that art was not only a personal passion but also a field of professional learning and teaching.

My younger sister Carolina and I also attended evening classes in artistic and advertising drawing at a technical education program where my mother worked. There, a teacher from the School of Fine Arts introduced us to different techniques, artistic styles, poster design, and portfolio presentation. These practical experiences gave us an early sense of belonging to the artistic world.

My father designed and created machines, showing me another way of bringing ideas into tangible form. Between my mother's dedication to teaching and learning and my father's inventive work, I grew up seeing creativity as both a way of life and a profession.

Over the years, I pursued studies in art history, visual arts, design, and art education. Today, I see these paths as interconnected parts of my artistic practice. For me, art is not simply something we make; it is a way of being in the world, observing it, transforming it, and connecting with others.

2. Which of your artworks is closest to your heart, and why is it particularly meaningful to you?

One project particularly close to my heart is Art Postcards for World Peace, an international collection that I created to bring artists and their works into dialogue across geographical and cultural boundaries.

What makes this project meaningful to me is that it goes beyond exhibiting artworks. Each postcard can become the beginning of an encounter: someone discovers an image, responds to it with a word, a drawing, or a personal message, and may then pass it on to another person. The artwork continues its journey and acquires new meanings through these interactions.

I have also developed a flexible format that allows other people to present the collection and create their own ECOs, or new resonances of the project, in different places and communities.

I love seeing how a small image can travel far beyond its original context, connecting people who might never otherwise meet. It is a living project that continues to grow through participation, exchange, and the willingness to share.

3. When you begin a new artwork, where does your inspiration usually come from — personal experiences, reality, or imagination?

My inspiration can emerge from personal experiences, the world around me, or my imagination. I am particularly attentive to nature, gestures, materials, memories, and the subtle relationships between things.

Sometimes an image appears intuitively, before I fully understand its meaning. I may begin with a sensation, a visual impression, or a particular material and discover its significance through the process of creating.

I do not always need to begin with a clear message. I prefer to remain receptive to what emerges, allowing the work to develop its own direction. Sometimes I understand why an image mattered to me only much later.

4. Is there a person, artist, or experience that has had a major influence on your artistic journey? How did it influence you?

My artistic journey has been shaped by several fields of study and experiences rather than by a single person or influence. Studying art history helped me understand artworks within their cultural and historical contexts, while my training in visual arts deepened my relationship with materials, techniques, and the creative process.

My experience in art education, including my encounters with Waldorf education, also influenced the way I understand creativity and human development. These approaches encouraged me to value imagination, attentive observation, and the expressive possibilities of artistic practice.

Together, these experiences have helped me develop a broad understanding of art, one that embraces both the creation of individual works and the relationships that art can establish with people and their surroundings.

5. What theme, issue, or message do you most like to express through your art, even when you do not address it directly?

I am drawn to the relationships between human beings and nature, memory and identity, territory and belonging, and the visible world and the deeper dimensions of experience.

Symbols are important in my work because they can communicate through several layers of meaning. I am interested in images that evoke a feeling or awaken a question rather than simply illustrate an idea.

Underlying many of my projects is a concern for care: how we relate to ourselves, to others, and to the world we inhabit. I hope my work encourages people to observe more attentively and to recognize connections they might otherwise overlook.

6. Have you ever experienced a moment when you wanted to give up on art? What made you continue?

I have never wanted to give up on art. For me, that would mean giving up on something inseparable from life itself.

My understanding of art goes beyond the creation of individual works. I see an artwork as something alive, with the potential to connect with other works, people, experiences, and places. Art continues to grow through these relationships.

Although personal circumstances sometimes limit the time I can devote to producing individual artworks, my need for artistic expression remains alive. It finds other ways to take shape through curatorial, collaborative, and participatory projects, as well as through creating opportunities for other artists and their works to reach people.

I believe that life itself can be understood as an artistic process, and that creating connections is also a way of making art.

7. How would you describe your artistic style to someone seeing your work for the first time? Do you think your style has changed over the years?

I would describe my artistic practice as an ongoing exploration of gesture, matter, image, and meaning. I work across different media, including drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and installation.

Rather than defining myself through a single style, I allow each project to suggest its own visual language. The materials, subject, and ideas involved influence the decisions I make.

Over the years, my practice has expanded to include more curatorial and participatory dimensions. Yet my interest in the symbolic potential of images and their ability to evoke emotions, open questions, and connect different experiences remains a constant.

8. If you had the opportunity to convey one message to the world through a single painting or artwork, what would that message be?

I would invite people to recognize peace as something we must continually nurture in our relationships with others.

Art cannot stop a war by itself, nor should we expect it to replace the urgent actions needed to protect people in situations of conflict. But in our everyday lives, and whenever circumstances allow, art can help keep alive the energy of respect, empathy, and openness toward others.

I see this as a contribution to a culture of peace: each person, through their own individuality and actions, helping to create the conditions in which we can recognize one another's humanity and build a more peaceful world.

9. What does being part of an artistic group that brings together artists from different cultures and backgrounds mean to you? What do you hope to learn from your fellow artists?

Being part of an international artistic community allows me to encounter different ways of seeing, creating, and interpreting the world. Each artist brings a personal history, cultural background, and visual language that can enrich the perspectives of others.

I value the possibility of learning from these differences without needing to erase them. Art can become a shared language through which people exchange ideas, discover new approaches, and develop mutual understanding.

I hope to continue learning from my fellow artists' experiences, techniques, and cultural contexts, while also contributing my own perspective and encouraging connections that may lead to future collaborations.

10. Beyond your art, what is one thing you would like the other members of the group to know about you?

I would like them to know that I deeply value the human relationships that grow around artistic projects. For me, listening, sharing, and creating opportunities for others are not separate from my artistic life.

I am interested in encounters that allow people of different ages, backgrounds, and experiences to participate in their own ways. I believe that everyone has the capacity to respond creatively when given an opportunity and a welcoming space.

I also believe that meaningful collaboration grows through mutual respect, generosity, and recognition of each person's contribution.

11. How do you find your experience with “Hitma – Art in the Service of Humanitarian Action and the Sustainable Development Goals”? What does using art to serve people, peace, and sustainable development mean to you?

I value opportunities to exchange ideas with artists from different cultural backgrounds, particularly when these encounters open up conversations about peace and our shared humanity.

For me, art can contribute to humanitarian and social concerns in different ways. It can offer spaces for expression, recognition, cultural exchange, and reflection. It can also encourage us to look at others with greater respect and sensitivity.

My own contribution to a culture of peace takes shape through artistic and participatory projects that bring people and artworks together. I see these initiatives as a form of social care: a way of keeping alive the values that help us build more respectful relationships and a more humane world.

I am also interested in learning more about HITMA's broader humanitarian and social activities and the ways in which artistic practices can connect with them.

12. What are your thoughts about the artistic group and your experience in it so far? Are you familiar with HITMA’s humanitarian, cultural, and social work beyond the artistic activities? If so, what aspect has attracted your attention the most?

I appreciate being part of an artistic community that brings together people from different backgrounds and creates opportunities for artists to share their work and perspectives.

My experience so far has encouraged me to reflect on the different ways art can contribute to dialogue and mutual understanding. I see the group's international character as an opportunity to discover new artistic voices and learn from experiences beyond my own cultural context.

I am still learning about HITMA's broader humanitarian, cultural, and social work beyond its artistic activities, so I would not want to make assumptions about initiatives I have not yet explored in depth. I look forward to learning more about this work and the possibilities for artistic participation within it.