Ximena
Vilchis
My practice sits at the intersection of art and design, where an ongoing dialogue unfolds between thought, image, and materiality.
Research-based, my work engages with the tension between critical theory and poetic sensibility through nature and the everyday, reclaiming the acts of pause and reflection.
I approach materials through their inherent qualities, preserving their material character while developing a refined formal language that gives rise to spaces of contemplation.
soylanenaximena@gmail.com
B.A. in Art & Design
2020-2025
Escola Massana
Barcelona, Spain
Product Design Semester
2024-2025
Erasmus at Écolle Boulle
Paris, France
Foundation course in Cinematography
2019-2020
ESCAC
Catalunya, Spain
Store Assistant – Colmado Shop
(El Born — Barcelona)
March 2025 – Present
Working as a store assistant at Colmado Shop, a fashion and design boutique in the heart of El Born. This role allows me to stay connected to the creative world of independent fashion, discover new brands, and understand retail dynamics from a stylistic and curatorial perspective. It’s a position I chose intentionally to deepen my appreciation for contemporary fashion culture.
TOUS Totebags – Illustration In Situ
(Westfield Glòries — Barcelona)
November 2–4, 2023
Commissioned by Actimundi Agency for a promotional event of the TOUS Manifesto collection. Created live, custom illustrations on tote bags using textile paint as exclusive gifts for event attendees.
DJ Mix – La Nena Ximena
(Sala Vol, Sala Taro, Casa Seat — Barcelona)
May 2023 – Present
Debuted at the Sin Sync party at Sala Vol (May 2023). Featured in the Amalgama series at Sala Taro (February 2024) and performed at Studio Fest at Casa Seat (May 2024).
Model
(Two Management — Barcelona)
February 2021 – 2025
Featured in editorials for L’Officiel Brasil and NEO2 Magazine. Collaborated on social media campaigns for Glamour Spain and Desigual, created lookbooks for Kling and Miriam Ponsa, and participated in advertising campaigns for Renault and Schwarzkopf.
Languages
Spanish – Native
English – Bilingual proficiency
French – Intermediate
Catalan – Intermediate
Technical
Adobe Photoshop
Illustrator
InDesign
Premiere Pro
Rhino 3D
Design
Print & editorial deisgn
Typography
Layout
Color theory
Visual composition
Visual storytelling
Material focus
Creative & Analytical
Creative problem-solving
Critical thinking
Written communication
Vist des d’enlloc (Seen from nowhere)
(LA CAPELLA — Barcelona, Spain)October 09, 2024
Collective exhibition based on experimental methodologies exploring memory through analog filmmaking, writing, and collaborative exercises. Project developed during the Massana Summer School week, led by Valentina Alvarado Matos, with my participation alongside other artists.
Feminasty
(PAOS GDL — Guadalajara, Mexico)March 10, 2019
Showcased the photographic work “Girls Cry Honey” as part of the feminist art exhibition FEMINASTY, presented within the Premio Maguey and the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG).
Last Updated 01.01.2026
EN / ES
Companion publications
Printed at Bramona Impressió Digital
Barcelona 2025
This dual publication presents the complete process of my bachelor’s thesis in Art and Design. Layers upon layers create a sense of haziness and ethereal imagery, while an accumulative volume of imagery and diverse paper choices contrast with the void shaped by white pages, open spaces, and cuts. These qualities manifest in multiple ways throughout the publication, as evidenced in the intermittent spiral binding, which foregrounds the materiality of the work. Together, these visual strategies articulate the theoretical and artistic nature of the project, making its ideas tangible through form, material, and spatial experience.
Exhibition at Éscola Massana
Barcelona 2025
A multimedia installation showcasing my personal photographic archive from the past ten years, consisting of approximately 5,000 photographs — and videos — taken within various artistic institutions. Miniature prints spill across the floor, a tangible manifestation of the oversaturation of the contemporary digital image, a phenomenon Joan Fontcuberta has termed postphotography. Moving images are projected onto three layers of synthetic silk, their clarity gradually dissolving as they shimmer through the translucent fabric. In a corner, the exhumed images once condemned to oblivion — the same 5,000 prints scattered below — are duplicated and triturated into a sculptural tombstone, a quiet monument allowing them to rest in peace.
In collaboration with Lester Arguelles
École Boulle, Paris 2024
"Ce que je ne vois, je le ressens" — “That which I do not see, I feel.”
This ashtray establishes a tactile dialogue through the Braille writing system, linking the embossed textures of the recycled aluminum plates — typically used in offset printing — with the symbolic language of literature. In this instance, it brings the poem La Cigarette by French poet Francis Ponge into contact with the sense of touch, allowing the literary work to be experienced through both materiality and sensation. The piece also reflects on a habit shared by several classic literary figures — the act of smoking — not as an endorsement, but as a gesture emblematic of a ritual that shaped their creative practice.
Color / 16 mm – 2K | Sound | 35”
“A close-up portrait of the walls surrounding La Capella. An intimate approach that explores the role of the environment in shaping identity. The piece is accompanied by a calm prayer, serving as a reflection of historical echoes.”
Amén is the result of a summer course offered by Escola Massana in collaboration with La Capella Centre d’Art, led by the artist Valentina Alvarado Matos, with collaboration from Carlos Vásquez Méndez. The work was subsequently presented, alongside the pieces of other participants, as part of the exhibition Vist des d’enlloc (Seen from Nowhere), held at La Capella on October 9th, 2024.
Silver ring cast manually.
Dimensions: Ø 2.5 cm × 2.7 cm
Barcelona 2023
Inspired by my fascination with rock formations — their organic curves and jagged edges — this handcrafted ring emerged through an experimental wax-casting process. I shaped a smooth, voluminous prototype by hand, then melted it with spontaneous, flowing movements, allowing it to echo the unpredictable textures of an outcrop. Cast in silver at a foundry, the piece was then carefully filed and polished in the workshop, preserving the dialogue between materiality, gesture, and the rugged beauty of the natural forms that inspired it.
Serigraphy illustration
19x17 cm
Barcelona 2024
Hand-drawn illustration transferred to textile and paper using silkscreen printing. The work explores irony, pairing a docile, innocent animal with a phrase evoking strength and power, challenging perceptions of weakness and submission. The black/white and pink/white color combinations reinforce this contrast.
Prototype Stool
Steel and copopren insulating panels | 47 × 74 × 40 cm
Barcelona 2023
A stool inspired by nature, featuring six curvilinear legs and five stacked rock-like foam blocks. It explores the dualities of hardness/softness and order/chaos through materiality and form.
iPhone photographic registry
Ongoing
What do we truly see when we look at our surroundings? The act of perceiving — an ongoing process of observation and response — lies at the core of my practice. My everyday creative rituals — photographing moments that capture my attention, ground me, and connect me to the present — are not secondary gestures but essential fibers of my work. Through a selection of this photographic archive, I seek to reveal how I encounter the world: through the lived experience of everyday life, where seeing becomes a way of weaving meaning through the ordinary.