Inês Santiago
Beacher & Visual Artist ; )
About The Artist
Inês is a Portuguese Visual Artist with a background in media and design. She draws her greatest inspiration from the beach: the sound of the waves, the texture of the sand, the vastness of the ocean, and the hidden treasures buried among the grains of sand. These natural elements and the objects she collects along the shoreline become integral to her work, creating a dialogue between humanity and nature.
Ephemeral Odds
DRAWINGS WITH CARDBOARD, PAPER, SHELLS, PEBBLES, ACRYLIC AND PLASTIC WASTE, all found at the beach
Adaptation
SCULPTURES MADE OUT OF NATURAL ELEMENTS & PLASTIC WASTE
Metamorphosis
SCULPTURES MADE OUT OF CLAY, SHELLS, PEBBLES AND SAND
After two decades in a fulfilling UX career, always balancing side creative projects, I’ve now stepped away to rediscover who I am—without the job title. In this journey, clay became my material of choice, a medium I can shape with feelings. At first, I leaned on my UX instincts, adding affordances—making the piece easy to hold. But I realized I needed to reject that ease, to let go of control and rational thought. Instead, I craved sharp shells, embedding them in the clay to make the piece difficult, uncomfortable, and even painful to hold—just like the emotions inside me.
Now, I create every day, guided by intuition. And through this process, I’ve rediscovered the raw, poetic beauty of making art and the freedom it brings me.
Paintings
ACRYLIC, WATERCOLOUR, INDIAN INK, PASTEL, CLAY AND SAND ON PAPER
