Sònia González [La Cuchu]
Sònia González is a Spanish art director, educator and illustrator, professionally known as La Cuchu. As she notes on her website, Cuchu is her alter ego, just in the way that Spiderman is Peter Parker’s.
She has a degree in Pedagogy from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and has worked as a special education educator within the Spanish mainstream system for much of her professional life. Her interest in drawing was partially inspired by working with children with autism spectrum disorder. In a recent interview for the current project, she noted, ‘ (…) my drawings helped us a lot with communication (trans. by L. Dunbar).’ Over time, she has developed her unique artistic style. Her background in Education continues to inform her illustration process. As she highlighted in the interview, when developing illustrations, she always tries to give it ‘a pedagogical and studied character (trans. L. Dunbar).’ This is also reflected in the projects she selects. For example, she recently illustrated, Cuentos cortos de emociones en el cole (2021), written by Pedro Maria García Franco. The book aims to help children identify, acknowledge and discuss their emotions.
She has illustrated books for a range of publishers. Seven years ago, she published her first book with Penguin/ Random House. Since then, Sònia has illustrated books for LaGalera, Beascoa, Scholastic, Edebé, Vicens Vives, Museu Marítim de Barcelona, among others.
Sources:
Soniacuchu.wixsite.com (no loger available, accessed October 8, 2021).
LinkedIn profile (accessed: October 8, 2021).
Bio prepared by Lisa Dunbar Solas, independent researcher, drlisasolas@ancientexplorer.com.au
Questionnaire
1. What is your background? How did you come to work with children's books?
I have a degree in pedagogy and most of my working life was spent as an educator of special education children in ordinary school. When working especially with children with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) my drawings helped us a lot for communication. Over time I decided to carry out my drawings further and published my first book with Penguin Random house 7 years ago. Since then it has become my main work and that is why I always try to give illustration a pedagogical and studied character.
2. What drew you to writing/working with Classical Antiquity and what challenges did you face in selecting, representing, or adapting particular myths or stories?
The truth is that at home we have always liked classical antiquity, Greek myths, Norse myths ... When the editor offered to work on Greek mythology. 100 neither more nor less I could not refuse ... at home they would not have forgiven me.
3. Why do you think classical / ancient myths, history, and literature continue to resonate with young audiences?
Otherwise they wouldn't be classics! The classics always have that timelessness that they are capable of adapting to any time in reality. They tell us about the basics, the primitive, the essential of humanity, stories of love, war, jealousy, courage, fear ... these are things that make us human and that is why we identify and recognize ourselves even though centuries go by.
4. Do you have a background in classical education (Latin or Greek at school or classes at the University?) What sources are you using? Scholarly work? Wikipedia? Are there any books that made an impact on you in this respect?
In high school I studied Latin and Greek but at a very basic level. Regarding the references, I am from the old school … I like to go to the library to take out books and see everything they have first… illustrations, engravings… stories… obviously I also have my digital visual references but I try to avoid Wikipedia because it is information too obvious, I think that the previous work of gathering information and looking for images that not everyone finds is what makes a project so wonderful ... you always find documents that you didn't even know existed.
In my city library I found a small self-published book from a local school, where the children drew the most relevant Greek myths. I found it super interesting to see the vision that children themselves had of myths and that helped a lot to see what approach I had to give to my illustrations, after all, my art is for them. It turned out to be a crucial document for my work despite not being very "official".
5. Did you think about how Classical Antiquity would translate for young readers, especially in Spain?
The truth is that I was interested in how to make classical literature visually attractive for children and not seem outdated ... I don't know if I have succeeded.
6. How concerned were you with ‘accuracy’ or ‘fidelity’ to the original? (another way of saying that might be — that I think writers are often more ‘faithful’ to originals in adapting its spirit rather than being tied down at the level of detail — is this something you thought about?).
Above all, I am concerned about being subtle. There are very cruel myths ... How do you draw Zeus transforming into a swan to deceive a maiden, or monsters that devour parts of people ... If you analyse them well ... they are harsh, cruel ... but you have to find a way to represent them to soften the harshness of the text ...
7. Are you planning any further forays into classical material?
No, but I would love for Nordic myths to fall into my hands… I love the children's Nordic style, cold, stylized and geometric… it would be a great challenge, and surely hilarious!
Prepared by Lisa Dunbar Solas, independent researcher, drlisasolas@ancientexplorer.com.au
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