Inazio Urrutia born in Bizkaia, in the small village of Erandio in 1948, he undertook his studies in architecture, construction engineering and building quality surveillance in several Spanish major cities. After completing his studies, he continued to improve and develop his knowledge in these fields –some in an individual manner and some working together with professionals from the architecture and engineering domains. It is during these years where he applies his background and improves his knowledge in art from a holistic point of view.

Early in his career in the Basque Country, he started a fine woodwork and in-house design company.

He emigrated from the Basque Country in 1979 and settled in Galicia where he developed the bulk of his artistic work until present, focusing and specialising in 'integral design' –incorporating in-house design, environmental architecture, graphical, industrial and object design.

His academic background in architecture and construction engineering along with his artistic sense, allows him to combine a free vision –almost anarchic- full of knowledge on materials, their behaviours, calculations and alloys, etc. thanks to his background in construction engineering and, on the other hand, a rational approach to order, composition, balance and aesthetics offered by the clarity of architecture.

At present, he combines his artistic side with his work as an architect and construction engineering along with his occupation as a university professor in the Fine Arts faculty of Pontevedra belonging to the University of Vigo (Spain).

PREFACE
The work of this artist interlinks the interior of the human being, his beliefs, his childhood memories, the atavistic fears we carry within in the search of new forms. In order to carry this out successfully, he focus’ on daily life objects. More often he concentrates on the objects that have become clearly invisible to our eyes in our every day routines. Curiosity along with conferring to his work a sense/beauty throughout a severe and meticulous PROCESS is the conductive wire of his creativity –sometimes being extremely intense or idle while reflexive periods contribute also to this process. Other creative path he takes includes leaving his work to rest for periods of time before resuming with it. This process is the engine of his talent and is a part of himself as well as the subconscious influences from his native land. The Basque Country, the Bilbao river, the sea with its ports and breakwaters, the traditional Basque sports –the Ox competition, the Basque ball, the ezkolari... these are the cores of the concepts as the discussion about the existence of a Basque art with its distinctive characteristics is quoted any time the Basque sculpture comes into scene.

As a Renaissance artist, his creativity is not bound to a specific field. He likes to get involved and explore all the elements of nature and life itself. He achieves a greater perspective in everyday objects that will be wasted, provided these objects are simple and functional to the every day eye

His work, on the pursuit of transforming the original item -such as stone, iron and wood- is meant to give birth to a new form of expression, bringing together art and functionality. It is as if the author maintains a dialog with his own works, as if the material he works with communicates to us what is in its interior, as if it was a mediator between the artwork and the final result. His work, filled with an academic legacy along with an eminent pragmatism, holds within an always present 'geometry', which oozes stability and balance. He quoted -'A geometry that, if missing, will make the artwork senseless.'

All his creations, reminiscent of the Basque culture, hold strength and might, as we can see from his iron works –giving us an incredibly dynamic impression. His artwork, as well as Chillida's, is free and is not bounded to any determining factor -pursuing the discovering of nature throughout the living matter.

Some of his sculptures make us think of old idols, influences of ancient archaisms of modernism, but always takes into concern volume, form, size, outline. In conclusion, the scope is always a search for the 'real beauty', which makes us think of other artists of the Gaur Group, such as Jorge Oteiza, Nestor Basterretxea (Basque Cosmogony) in reference to the popular Basque believes.

Some of his works in wood are linked to the ideas of other sculptors. The respect for the living matter gathers past and present, while linking the human being to the ecosystem –the transformation of farming equipment and tools such as anvils and ploughs, not only binds the author to the traditions of his home land but to those of other cultures, stepping over boundaries and human limits.

Inazio Urrutia is an artist that contributes to present-time sculpture and painting by offering and combining aesthetically modern artworks along with simplicity and cohesion in its outline. His works comprehend several fields apart from architecture and design itself. This makes his production a 'constant search for new and different forms of expression' throughout art.

Inazio Urrutia always picks up items offered by the surrounding environment, learns from the ancient artisan techniques and styles and adapts them to the current tendencies.

This author has great preoccupations, which push him to investigate the materials he works with, forms, textures, colours... all of them being a part of his research. For him, even the slightest object holds 'certain beauty within', and he always finds the way to take that beauty out and conjugate it in a simple, functional and aesthetic manner. 'Art is not confronted with what seems to us an everyday life item' he quoted. This is the underlying philosophy that grants his artworks a hale and fresh air combined with imagination, freed from schedules and duties.

He enjoys his time giving life to his creations, for which the final result is not important, but the process of creation and development. Taking into concern the environment, he understands the recycling process as a new life for wasted items that can easily become furniture, accessories, art... He manages to transform these into beauty, letting the item guide his imagination. His drawings and sketches for his artworks are precious to him, they are 'his sons' -the sons he creates, he models, in which he spends time and space. All this in a way that, once they are done, those sons would have attained their age of maturity.

From the idea to paper –the step to become whole consists on a thorough election of items rooted to his origins, always bearing in mind the place he lives and where he performs his work, along with the incorporation of native materials linked to his host land.

Wood, granite, slate, iron –among many others- are a part of his 'family.' If we go over his works we find a tribute to and element that has captured and astonished men since the beginning of time –the Moon. He has observed and emulated its movements, becoming familiar and close to it, developing its shapes throughout a series of artwork known as the 'Crescent Project.'

Inazio Urrutia has a theory about his work, arising from his thorough and intense studies. A theory he teaches to his students - throughout investigation (the creative process) you reach an end where you will be able to select, through questioning and criticizing your work without limits, those important values, meanings and knowledge arising from your creations. To do so, you must be convinced and have had already questioned yourself about how, who, where, when... You must always go from the absolute to concrete, from metaphysic to tangible, from ethereal to worldly... This way, you will be able to carry your study to its logical limits, without exceeding them, i.e., attain one's 'self-convincement', and the final result, and therefore choice, will be the one that has obtained the most positive results.

Inazio Urrutia inspires himself in nature, going deeper and inside everything that surrounds him, not copying, but taking the environment as a 'pattern' for his artworks.

His meticulous and 'perfectionist' manner of work have pushed him to include part of his work in this Web site, while he prepares an extended compilation of it for the near publishing of a book including his entire works.