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Rebeca Alvarado Soto: A Life in Motion: March 2013
Rebeca Alvarado Soto
A Life in Motion
Contributed by Hidden Garden Art Gallery
"Painting is a necessity for me," says Rebeca Alvarado Soto, an emerging Costa Rican artist. "It is my passion, like eating or sleeping. I just have to do it." It carries her into a parallel world where she transcends to wonderful places through the creative act. "Every time I am in front of a canvas, it invades and transforms me and it's amazing. I don’t think when I paint; I let myself be carried away, and my thoughts and feelings appear on the canvas."
Art was always an integral part of Alvarado’s life. At the early age of four she was already performing on stage as a ballerina, and went on to participate as singer in operas and choir groups and played in small piano recitals in national theaters.
Rebeca was introduced to painting through her grandfather’s passion for the art. When she set up her easel and started to draw for the first time, she was mesmerized. During her school years, Rebeca was quick to finish her assignments and then took out her sketchbook. "It was a wonderful and whimsical world, where I could convey all my thoughts into images," says Alvarado.
Fortunately, she exceled in her studies and her professors actually enjoyed her creative interludes. Though these were not always "traditional" drawings, both student and teacher felt rewarded: the teacher receiving the gift of art, and Rebeca finding a way to express herself in a creative learning process.
Despite deciding to pursue a career as a psychologist, Rebeca’s artistic nature kept gnawing at her. After completing her university studies, she reverted back to the art world to become a dancer and choreographer. But the creative side of Rebeca was still incomplete until she returned to her love of painting. After taking post-graduate courses, she became an art instructor to allow her to teach her passion to others.
When Rebeca paints, she dances; and when she dances, she paints. They are interrelated, and cannot be separated. Even though she has varied themes in her artwork, one can always see the movement, and feel the breeze in her intricate combinations of beautiful textures on canvas.
