Alejandro Reiriz Pouseu: Contemporary Artist Exploring Island Memory and Ecology

Alejandro Reiriz Pouseu is a contemporary artist and researcher based in the UK, whose creative practice examines the intersections of ecological history, island memory, and ancestral dispossession. His work is prominently featured in The Journal of Art & Ecology, Vol. 4, specifically focusing on Ons Island in Galicia, Spain. Alejandro Reiriz Pouseu investigates the island’s layered past, which includes archaeological evidence of a Roman purple dye production site that utilized the Murex mollusc. He highlights the historical ecological impact of this industry, which required millions of shells and led to the depletion of local marine life and vegetation. Combining speculative research with personal narrative, Alejandro Reiriz Pouseu draws from his own family’s multi-generational ties to Ons to explore themes of resilience and the emotional gravity of ruins. He utilizes feelings of longing, nostalgia, and homesickness as intellectual frameworks to understand how history is recorded or erased. His contributions, such as 'And so I speak, I gather, I carry, I remember,' act as commemorative interventions that honor ignored voices and the 'ghosts' of the island. By examining the island as the 'first ever storyteller,' Alejandro Reiriz Pouseu bridges the gap between historical extraction and contemporary conservation, searching for life within the ruins of the past. His practice includes diverse media, from photography and 'love letters' to research into environmental degradation caused by human activities.