What inspired you to create artwork and become an artist? (events, feelings, experiences...)
It is stronger than oneself, a vital need to create.
My mother started painting late in life, it's a bit in her genes.
What is your artistic background, the techniques and subjects you have experimented with to date?
I started exhibiting more regularly in the 2000s.
I had a few awards that encouraged me to continue.
I mainly practice oil painting, but I like to alternate with drawing from time to time.
Regarding the subjects, they are a reflection of my surrounding life, my experiences, and certain environmental beliefs.
What are the 3 aspects that differentiate you from other artists, making your work unique?
My style is immediately identifiable, and that's the hardest thing to achieve.
A certain poetry, sometimes tinged with humor, grating language at times.
My colors are very particular to me.
Where does your inspiration come from?
Everywhere. I live very much in the present moment. I ingest everything my eyes register.
What is your artistic approach? What visions, sensations or feelings do you want to evoke in the viewer?
I quite like to surprise and disconcert.
I invite the viewer to take the time to look. I say some things, but they are not immediately obvious.
I also play with the titles of my paintings.
What is the process of creating your works? Spontaneous or with a long preparatory process (technique, inspiration from art classics or other)?
The time that makes the work is very variable. My creative technique is divided between very spontaneous gestures, almost danced on the canvas and a slowdown for more precise drying times and details.
Do you use a particular working technique? if yes, can you explain it?
I use knives and scrapers of all sizes.
Very often to install my backgrounds, I take very large tools which allow great gestures.
With my knives, I scrape, I stretch the paint, I cover it, then erase or go back over it. In short, it's the workshop kitchen.
Are there any innovative aspects in your work? Can you tell us which ones?
On certain themes and characters yes.
And a use of tools that are specific to me.
Do you have a format or medium that you are most comfortable with? if yes, why ?
I like all formats.
It depends on my mood, my form because it takes good energy to paint.
On large formats, I let myself be carried away on the canvas accompanied by well-paced music. As for small formats, they allow for all the daring and failures but they have their place in the creative process.
Where do you produce your works? At home, in a shared workshop or in your own workshop? And in this space, how do you organize your creative work?
I create in my own studio located in my home.
To paint, do I need a hard surface? And so, I paint either directly on wood, or on the canvas on the floor, or hung against the wall then mounted on a frame.
Due to lack of space, I hang them on the walls or stack them on a rack.
Does your work lead you to travel to meet new collectors, for fairs or exhibitions? If so, what does it mean to you?
I like to exhibit regularly in various places.
Group exhibitions allow you to confront others and are rich in wonderful encounters with both collectors and artists.
How do you imagine the evolution of your work and your career as an artist in the future?
I continue to send files and respond to exhibition offers.
Indeed, today, we have to take a lot into account with the internet.
But my painting sells better directly because even if the quality of the images has greatly improved, being truly in front of the painting is a privileged experience because the emotion is live.
What is the theme, style or technique of your latest artistic production?
I favored canvas more, which allowed me to do more because my last two exhibitions took place in large spaces.
The theme was close to the marshes of where I live.
Can you tell us about your most important exhibition experience?
It was the Puls'art at Le Mans. He selects quite a bit at the entrance. It is a recognized Salon.
But, my last exhibition was rather successful in terms of meetings and sales. It was at the Moulin de Pen Castel in Arzon (56). My paintings fit perfectly with this place with its rich heritage.
If you could create a famous work in the history of art, which one would you choose? And why ?
Impossible to answer you, my tastes are very varied.
If you could invite any famous artist (dead or alive) to dinner, who would it be? How would you suggest he spend the evening?
An artist from yesterday or today?
The choice is too difficult. But we would probably discuss something other than painting.
Why no cooking? From the world around us?
Or we would look together at another painting, by another artist, famous or not.
Because above all, the pleasure of the eyes is a powerful engine of creation.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli