-I don't remember my first feelings related to art. This was in my early childhood. All I know is that painting, making art, has always given me pleasure and a special feeling of personal fullness, filling my life with special meaning and content. I have no other artists in my family, so this was a strange choice for many people.
-It is difficult to say, because creating and living through art are special intimate processes that go on their own, individual chart and personal track, and in this sense each artist is a separate universe, incomparable with any other artistic universe. And that's why comparing artists is difficult and perhaps impossible. Most artists intuitively feel their power and follow their own authentic personal path. And I think that's the way to go.
-From everywhere-I am inspired by nature, seasons, human relationships and communication, music, arts, but most of all emotions and feelings in the context of our daily lives. I am also inspired by the artifacts from my Bulgarian culture and history - many archetypes and symbols passing through the history of European civilization - from primitive art, through the Greco-Roman era, Byzantine art and Ottoman culture - artifacts of which my country is very rich.
-I work entirely dedicated to spontaneity and momentary expression, captivated by the moment and the thrill of creation, focused on the gesture of the hand… This is for me the real path that gives an emotional sincerity and primacy and leaves its authentic artistic trace. I can't think and design my works. I just sit down and start… Without fixing…
-I want my works to fill the viewer with positive, emotionally pure energies and intellectual messages. I want them to have depth of thinking and strong expressiveness. These are the fruits of the good magic of creation.
-I have my technological discoveries and favorite materials. I love both standard acrylic or watercolor painting and experimental genres - I sometimes use different reliefs, collages, monotypes, as well as sand, and other alternative natural materials. I make my own handmade paper for my engravings.
-I work mostly in medium formats, but I also have many miniature works. I also have large paintings - for example, up to ten meters in size. And they are all my favorite formats because they give different possibilities to artistic expression. Our work is associated with a large amount of physical hard work, as strange as it may seem to others.
-Different - as with every person - everyday problems related to various everyday things, people, situations, family. Recently, the Covid pandemic has destroyed normal life, our social ties and the normal functioning of the entire civilization structure in all its dimensions and manifestations - cultural life, sports, politics, business. This is a huge and strange life experience that happened to our generation. And part of our work is related to recreating these experiences.
-I work in my own studio - I paint every day, listen to music, read books, charge myself intellectually and emotionally. And this is an important upgrade in the context of artistic path and expression. The atmosphere of the studio for me is very important in the process of creation, it is something like a personal cathedral, full of emotions, energies and positive vibes.
-Sometimes I travel… Although the main and important journey is related to the imagination, emotions, feelings, inspirations. New places, people and situations always enrich and refresh their own feelings, which later turn into creativity.
-I have a lot of awards, and each of them is an important part of my journey. But there are 2 awards that are especially important to me - this is the Grand Prize for Young Artist from the Biennial of Graphics in Varna, Bulgaria (1993), which I received while I was a student at the Academy in Krakow (Poland), and which gave me the wings I needed. to every young artist who fearfully embarks on the path of art, as well as the two Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grants in New York, which I received in 2003 and 2007, and which decisively upgraded my concepts and development as an artist.
-Still fully fulfilling my personality, life, my daily life, and giving meaning and positivity in my path.
-Now I am working on a project - a large conceptual painting, which has dimensions of 840/240 cm, and is made up of many separate modules. Something like a painting installation, built entirely of alternative natural materials, sand, carbon paper, readymade objects. It is entirely inspired by the drama of the pandemic experiences and emotions of recent years. Something like a conceptual iconostasis or altar. I plan to show it to an audience in the spring in a gallery. Of course, if the pandemic situation allows…
- These would be "White Square on a White Canvas" by Kazimir Malevich and "Ladies of Avignon" by Pablo Picasso. These are masterpieces that are the basis of the development of all modern and contemporary art, changed not only the form, philosophy, but perception and thinking in our profession.
-I would definitely invite Jackson Pollock, with whom we would be happy to drink a few liters of whiskey. This is a joke, of course, because in real life I don't drink, but I would keep him company. I would also talk to Miro, as well as Christo and Jean-Claude.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
