Exclusive Interview with Vanessa Wenwieser 
(Marvelous Art Gallery – 2021)


Hello Dear Vanessa Wenwieser. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?

It actually affected me in such a way that I couldn’t so much do printmaking anymore and I went more in the direction of still drawing etc. but using digital techniques more as I could do them from home. So in a way I had more time to work on them but I would like to get back to more printmaking in the future again as I love how my works fo from the hand-made to digital and back. Trying to use the mediums that best suit to what I try to achieve. Each medium has it’s strengths and weaknesses. In digital and photography I love the immediacy, also of trying things out like how a change of colour would look etc. and in drawing and painting the time and effort it takes and how it teaches you to see and in printing making it’s in between the too, still very tactile but that closeups to photography of the mechanical reproduction.



Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what drove you to choose art as a career?

Well I’ve always enjoyed art and loved art class and painting, drawing etc. in school, then  I felt I need to do something even if it’s part time where I can pour out my emotions and thoughts and so started studying Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art, I enjoyed this very much my black and white works greatly became influenced by Duane Michals who used photography to explain what is going on inside hime instead of being only interesting for it’s visual beauty or capturing the moment like Henri Cartier Bresson.
I loved the immediacy of photography and it’s strong relatability with people, it always was of something that actually was in front of the lens, there was a connect ability that I enjoyed. Also printing in the black and white darkrooms well as color darkrooms was, and still is so magical to me. To use potions to make images slowly to appear out of nowhere, is so amazing. The atmosphere so quiet and surreal, so dreamy I enjoyed it so much.


How do you make sure you have time to create? Do you have a set time or build it into your calendar? 

To make sure I am able to have time to create I  make sure I get enough done in a week and sometimes stay up longer to finish work or whenever I have some free time. Art is a priority for me. Also whenever I have ideas I write them down and draw them so when I have time I can work one them, I get many ideas for works in my dreams or in a half waking frame of mind or even when I’m doing things that are very trance like that’s when they seem to slip through my subconscious.


What is the hardest part of creating a painting?

The hardest part of creating an artwork I think is actually having an idea, it is also the most important part. There is always a fear that one day I might run out of ideas, then depending on the idea is to find a model that depicts this idea well and working on all the small details to create an an image that expresses your feelings, the right mood and light etc. to create an atmosphere.


We saw your main theme is Women. Sometimes they have lots of flowers, some of them have a couple of dark corners like a snakes, skulls.. Can you give us an informations about your artworks background story?

Yes I enjoy using women to help understand what is going on inside of me to make my emotions visible and I feel of course more that it relates to other women. Flowers are symbols of fertility and the new if only fleeting so in a way that is a dark theme too, they are often used in Momento Mori to help understand the fleetingness of beauty and life. In Momento Mori you also find skulls and snakes and so on as well as in religious imagery which influences me a lot. I like to show off these women as proud and strong beings that are vulnerable but overcome this by their inner strength. One image where I show this is where I make flowers our of wings that come our of the woman’s scars on her back symbolizing the pain she goes through but how in her own inner strength she overcomes it little by little, one step at a time. Strength is not only physical but mental and women have an enormous amount of inner strength and willpower.


We are seeing lots of “Red” colors in your Artworks. Why is the colour “red” is important in your artworks?

Red is for me a very important color in my art as it symbolisms so much in which I believe, it is the color of extremes and my images often depict emotional turmoil for example I used a lot of red in my image of a young girl that had been bitten by a vampire and it symbolises not only s state of extreme danger but also of ecstasy a trance like state in which she found herself in. But I don’t only use the color red to symbolize danger or dark themes but also for love but always emotionally heightened states of being, for which I think the color is perfect.


What is your creative process like and how has your style changed over the years?


I suppose the writing down the idea and drawing it has always remained the same.
Well I started off working more in photography, which I often still use in my art and pursuing printmaking for example  screen-printing, which is very close to photography anyway. As well as adding some painted details. I used to make much more changes during the printmaking process and using paint and now use more digital techniques but I always make sure that the images look like paintings by using texture, I’m not a fan at all of images which look to clean or perfected. I am of the Japanese Wabi Sabi opinion that great art or craft is made better through small flaws. Like Leonard Cohen said: ‘There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light get’s in’ 
People can relate far better to images that are imperfect, as we all are.


Anything else you'd like to mention that I didn't ask?

Yes I was very much influenced by dark stories in my childhood like the Grimms fairy tales and stories of Vampires, Ghosts and Witches which I cherished, I suppose the dark fears we all have and how to overcome them and do things although they scare you is a very important lesson to learn and I’m still working on it.


Thank you for your time!

https://www.instagram.com/kunstfabrikstudio/

http://marvelousartgallery.com/

Exclusive Interview with Vartist

(Marvelous Art Gallery – 2021)
 
 
Hello Dear Vartist. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?

Only in the way that I made a couple of drawings of people with masks.


Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what drove you to choose art as a career?

I was born in a family of two artists and grew up crawling between the studios of my father and mother which were separated by a door. On the father’s side we had wooden carvings, clay sculptures, paintings, metal and what not. Mother’s side was full of fabric and thread. She would be creating patchwork paintings, embroideries, makrame lamps and sculptures as well as scrulptures with beeds, etc. Both of them had no limits to what they could do, as far as I could see. So in growing up in such an atmosphere art became my life. So it never became a career.


You're a Multidisciplinary Artist. You have many artworks in Sculpture, Installation, Digital and Traditional Art, also Music. Can you explain to us if this is a difficult thing to do  and how you spend time in your private life?

A number of years ago I had to write an artist statement for the first time and when I thought about it – it quickly dawned on me that creativity is a formless force of creation and doesn’t have a specilisation. You can pour it into any form and it will take that form. All it takes is just to figure out the basics of how to handle the form. Off course, it can be taken to far away places in terms of complexity and sophistication. And that’s where the advantage comes when you spend a lot of time in a given area.
In terms of private life – yes indeed when you have many things happening bringing another person into your life adds more challenges, but that has also its beauty. So it’s worth it.


We saw that you’re mixing couple of different Art themes in your Art. Like  “poetry” and “3D art”  Can you tell us more about this project of you called “3D poems”?

The 3D poems are a combination of different art forms I like to explore – poetry, sound and visual art. First I write the poem, then I narrate it and later create the visuals in VR and afterwards a soundtrack. All combined I call it 3D poems. Maybe I should call it 4D ?


We want to talk about your “First NFT Cathedral” Project. What’s the reason the connect to “Church” and “NFT Art” in the first place?

When the NFT art movement happened I had a thought to add something to it that would be fresh. So I took 12 artists whom I randomly found on twitter – all of whom were not big names – we could say emerging artists like myself. And I asked them to contribute one artwork from their portfolio which I took as a pattern map to sculpt a sculpture for them. Each artist was declared a Saint and a name was given – like Saint Andrey, etc. A cathedral was built for the Saint sculptures that resembles a baloon parachute levitating in virtual Paris. The idea of the baloon shape was to symbolize the NFT movement as a baloon – will it burst or not? The Sainthood of the artists symbolizes the struggle for the emerging artist to establish herself/himself on his or her feet. The final work was a collection of 12 NFTs that are in the form of 3 min videos – available for each Saint. It can be found on my website.


You are offering "museum experience" in the form of a collectible NFT. Can you explain more about "Art Fair 35" to our audience?

ArtFair35 is the most fun project I have done so far. It’s an ongoing project. This year I turned 35. So I made a gift to myself in the form of my own art fair. As an artist you know- we are always beggers looking who is going to show our work, etc. But when you have your own art fair – you can go around, creating art and putting it all over the place- making installations, paintings, music, everything - like a child roaming around the chocholate factory. So I create all kinds of spaces, buildings and make my own exhibitions inside in the form of pavilions. I number them Pavilion 1,2,3 and so forth.


NFT Art goes viral in the world. What are you thinking about the “NFT Art” and do you think that can NFTs empower artists and  the art industry?
 
I used to make digital art before NFTs happened and I still love doing it- so for people like me – it’s an opportunity to keep creating art and make a living with it. But for those who all of a sudden started flooding the NFT space with rediculous projects and collectables that have no artistic value or even aesthetics, it’s a pity that such projects gain momentum, because it throws a shadow on the NFT movement. But overall the dust settles in the long run – so NFT will stay and keep serving artists to make art and live off it, which is the dream of every artist. 
 
  
What are you working on at the moment? Can you give us a spoiler on what’s coming next for Vartist?

Promotion, making music and participating to art competitions.


Anything else you'd like to mention that I didn't ask?

Thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts. Let’s stay in touch over the social medias. Cheers to Life and Art.


Thank you for your time!



www.vartist.art

www.instagram.com/vartist 

http://marvelousartgallery.com/

Exclusive Interview with Nur K Art
(Marvelous Art Gallery – 2021)
 
 
Hello Dear Nur K Art. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?

Well long time before the covid-19 I’ve witnessed the Syrian war I was there when everything fell apart, I had to escape it and leave everything behind, finally when I’m on my feet again .my family and I had to go through this situation all over again with the covid-19 and the global quarantine.

There was no escape! Everywhere and everyone is in danger.

So, I had to spend more time at home, watching the news, not knowing when this pandemic will end. the art was a way for my mind to escape and survive this situation, I start drawing, practicing new techniques and putting my feelings in the pieces I make.
  
 
 
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what drove you to choose art as a career?

Well, I’ve been drawing since I was a kid but it wasn’t constantly, but last couple of years I start giving art more time and effort. however, I work as an architect beside my hobby as an artist but who knows? maybe in the future I will choose art as a full-time job.
 
 
 
How do you make sure you have time to create? Do you have a set time or build it into your calendar?

I love drawing at  the night ,i love the calmness and the quietness .it helps me to relax and clear my mind .

I also half a small notebook besides my bed , I write down in  my dreams that I saw the day before, some ideas i got and some memories so I can convert them to art pieces .
  
 
 
What’s your favourite artwork and why?

I love all my artworks ,each one has a special and deep meaning .
And this is one of my favorite artworks. (https://www.instagram.com/p/CNkY3ADr9bR/)
It portrays how people see me most of the time a strong ,proud ,egoist woman. But deep inside I’m a woman  who is very sensetive and emotional who likes to hide her feelings .only few who saw the real me.

 
 
We saw a lot of women in your artworks. We want to talk about the “Womens” figure of yours. Can you tell us more about why you choose the women for your main theme?

I draw a woman as a mirror to my deep soul and mind that I want to share with the world. I want to share my thoughts, suffer, struggles, hopes, fears, maturity. I want people to communicate with their feelings and acknowledge them to help them to heal and overcome their fears and their struggles so they can move on.

 
 
How does art-making impact other parts of your life?

I think art influence people differently, that’s the beauty of art.
It allows people from different countries from all over the world to communicate and share experiences, opinions, feelings. with each other through artworks.
  
 
 
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on a small animated video I want to share with you soon ,this is something new for me , I hope you like it. 
 
 
 
Anything else you'd like to mention that I didn't ask?,

Actually your questions were perfect thank you so much.
  

 
 
 https://www.instagram.com/nur.k.art/
 
 
http://marvelousartgallery.com/
 

 
Exclusive Interview with Vivien Szaniszlo
(Marvelous Art Gallery – 2021)
 
 
Hello Dear Vivien Szaniszlo. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?

I thank you for the opportunity, I am happy to answer. This situation, the pandemic, was very frightening at first, in addition to the fact that many lost their lives and many were worn by this period, I was also worried about how I would be able to work and stay in touch with my customers. Luckily, after the initial confusion and shock, things were neatly arranged and within a few months, everything was back on track. Seclusion was not new to me, it is usually my normal lifestyle for me. I love being alone, thinking and creating. In such cases, one is surprised by things that might be lost in another situation. I was given creative impulses, full of challenge and work. On the other hand, spiritually I was very worn out by the many sadness and mourning around me. I’m lucky because I haven’t lost anyone I love and that’s why my heart is full of gratitude.
  
 
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what drove you to choose art as a career?

I think I’ve always been different from the majority since I was a child. I had a hard time understanding myself with others so I quickly felt excluded and alone. In my own inner world, I found refuge, tales, and stories that I drew so I was never alone in spirit. This is probably how my relationship with art began, I expressed myself in pictures rather than orally. Maybe they understood me better that way. After that there was no stopping just drawing and finally my parents took me to a drawing teacher for a special session when I was 9 years old. She introduced me to the world of painting, which I loved very much and that love has lasted ever since.I consciously didn’t want a career out of this, I just felt like I couldn’t live without painting.
 
  
Could you describe your normal day as an artist?

This is a difficult question because I don’t have two identical days. I only paint if I have a strong motivation to do so. I’m a pretty bad sleeper, I lie late and often wake up at night, I still think and paint in my imagination. It helps to calm down. After waking up, the first is my coffee. I love to have coffee this is a little ritual for me. After that, I prepare in spirit what I am going to paint or I am just continuing a painting I have started. I always work on multiple images simultaneously. Then I walk into the atelier and surrender to inspiration. It’s also like I don’t paint because I’m tired mentally, then I read or walk in nature, in the woods.
  
 
What is your creative process like? How has your style changed over the years?
 
This is an elusive thing for me. I paint for internal effects. Often pictures flash into my mind, shreds are semi-finished pieces, colors. I know these are slices of a future painting. I then try to consciously pay attention to these inner happenings and then shape them purposefully until I get a finished thing. The image changes depending on what emotional impact is stronger, so that an entire story is eventually born. To make these impulses more understandable, I often use symbols in my visual selection. My style has changed a lot over the years. It took me a while to find myself and figure out what I’m good at. So it turned out to capture strong, negative or sad feelings through female portraits. Because that’s what I feel strong about, I’m not afraid to look into the darkness and that’s how I can encourage others as well, because we can only appreciate light if we know what it’s really dark like. And I know what it's like.
  
 
We want to talk about the fantastic figures you choose for your main theme. Can you tell us more about your influences and your inspirations about these fantastic creatures?

As I said before, my primary inspiration comes from sad spiritual events, but I often draw on ideas from both spiritualism and nature. I always want to express something special pictorially, to create deep and valuable characters that can convey my thoughts well, who can be watched for hours so that we always notice something extra that is not before.
 
 
 Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?
 
Artist life is as lonely as we want it to be. There are many kinds of artists, there are those who are constantly traveling and living a bustling, active social life, and there is the opposite of this, as is me who paints more quietly and is a little more isolated. But it's completely good that way. Each artist decides for himself/herself how much he/she lets in from the world. For me, the outside world is often too loud and deceptive. I like honest, raw things. Maybe that's why I'm more aloof.
 
 
How do you choose the subject of your painting? And what is your artwork exploring, underneath everything?

I always choose my characters with great care so that I can depict the given theme in as layered and colorful a color as possible. My female portraits always want to convey something somewhat important to say, secrets waiting to be unraveled.
There is always something to discover while painting. Either on my own, through my prism, or on the subject I’m painting. There are times when I read back to a mental illness or an event that happened because I want to incorporate it into the painting to be made.
  
 
Anything else you'd like to mention that I didn't ask?
  
My main goal in painting is to touch people’s souls. Whenever the opportunity arises, I will tell you how important it is to pay attention to each other. And not just superficially, but with actual devotion. Because a lot of people suffer inside and a lot of people can’t tell this in words. And feelings of depression and abandonment can even lead to suicide. A hug, a kind word can work wonders. Let us not allow ourselves to be lost in the dark, for we are all precious in our own way, life is a gift that will never return, let us not be wasted. Take care of each other and the beautiful planet we call OUR HOME. Thank you.
 
 
  
Thank you for your time!
 
 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/szaviart
IG: https://www.instagram.com/vivienszaniszlo/?hl=hu
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SzaViArt?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
 
 http://marvelousartgallery.com/
 

 
Exclusive Interview with Iratxe YC
(Marvelous Art Gallery – 2021)
 
 
Hello Dear Iratxe YC. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?

My art has as a central theme the mental illnesses, specially disorders as depression, anxiety and bipolar. So, the Covid-19 affected directly on these points I work about. The lockdown, empty streets, silence, the fear for the loved ones, the death and the uncertainty of the whole situation had a great impact on how I was feeling and what I was painting. Covid-19 affected emphasizing my usual themes of mental health; I started painting my own emotion, the themes became real so my works started feeling real too.


Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what drove you to choose art as a career?

I have been painting since I can remember and I have always have great support from my family and friends. Since a little child I had a huge connection with nature so I would always carry flowers around and paint about them, something that haven't changed at all in the present. So, when the time to pick an University came, I chose to study Fine Arts and later, a Masters Degree on Illustration. During that period I used to paint for beauty, the work was empty. It was during 2017 when I really picked art as a career, when I decided I have something to tell with my art.
 
 
Can you tell to our audience about your techniques for overcoming creative blocks?

That's a wonderful question! Creative blocks are a real nightmare for any kind of artist. There is nothing worse than having the need to create but you can't focus, you can't paint right or your inspiration is gone. Creative blocks often come after work burnt-outs, euphoric creative phases or because of mental health status. So, I find the best technique just to don't force yourself to paint and focus on different projects. For example, when I'm feeling blocked, instead of trying over and over again to paint something, I do cross-stitch, I take care of my plants or I just watch a movie. It can last a day, a week or a month, it doesn't matter. The point is doing something you can actually complete so you feel fullfilled instead of carrying the negativity of not being able to create. I like to think about creative blocks as empty glasses we have to fill slowly again, they aren't empty forever, they are just a phase.
 
 
What is your favorite subject to painting and why?

My favorite subject is the figure of the woman, specially portraits. As I mentioned earlier, I paint about myself and my emotions so, as a woman, I use the female portrait to connect myself with the painting. There is also a feminist point on it and a the beauty I find in the female body, to be honest. So, this three points together allow me to be part of the painting and they awake an interesting subject to me to paint.
 

We want to talk about the “Baroque” touch of your Arworks. Can you tell us more about your artistic style?

Some people say "less is more"; well, I live in all aspects of my life with exactly the opposite: Horror Vacui, fear to the emptiness. My favorite art movements are the Rennaissance, Baroque and Pre-Raphaelits so they have a huge impact on the way I paint and how I fill the canvas. The ornaments are very important for me as each object has a meaning and each flower represents a feeling. Lace, pearls, medieval inspired jewelry... all of it talks about me and my environment. So you could say my artistic style is directly inpired by the Great Masters compositions and color palettes, and my own personal inquisitiveness.
 

We saw your Artwork tones are so unique. Can you tell us about the colors on your palette and anything new you have been experimenting with?

My palette is usually warm and muted to set the tone of my paintings. It's just a personal thing that I like mixing a cold concept with a warm palette to create a cozy feeling out of a negative experience, to create a crash between them. But during the Covid lockdown I started experimenting more with cold palettes, which create a distant feeling about the painting. In the way to achieve that change, I started using the Zorn palette, which has helped me muting my colors to colder ones without losing a warm touch on them.
 

What type of editing software do you like to use for your completed paintings, and what do you like about it?

I really like Procreate to edit my paintings. It's a very easy and intuitive program to use. Whether is a scanned or photographed archive, I touch it very little with editing software so, Procreate is helpful to adjust levels easily to erase shines in black surfaces and to clean any weird spot.
 

Anything else you'd like to mention that I didn't ask?

Sure! Just a little reminder that it is possible working with oils without toxic media as many of us do. Most people think you need toxic turpentines and substitutes, which are highly damaging for us and for our planet (even if you dispose them correctly). So I encourage every artist to search about their media and try to work as sustainably as they can.

That's all! Thank you very much for this lovely interview, it's been a pleasure :)
 
 
Thank you for your time!
 
   
http://marvelousartgallery.com/

www.iratxeyc.com

https://www.instagram.com/iratxe.yc/

Exclusive Interview with Aurelia Cordiez

(Marvelous Art Gallery – 2021)

Hello Dear Aurelia Cordiez. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?

I don't think Covid 19 had a direct impact on my work. In fact this is not a subject I wanted to transpose into my work.

But on the other hand, like, I think, many people, it raised personal awareness. It influenced my way of thinking. It made me realize how fragile our condition as a human being and as a society is, that tomorrow everything can stop. Living the life I want to live made perfect sense and, since then, I have freed myself from certain dogmas, certain fears, which slowed me down in my work as a photographer.


Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what drove you to choose art as a career?

My name is Aurélia Cordiez, I am an artist who uses photography as a medium of expression. I have been working and living in Paris for the past 10 years.

To answer your question, I wouldn't say it was a choice, art has always been a part of my life and every time I walked away from it, it came back to me. I am sure we all have a predisposition for certain areas and it is a great chance when we can find it. For me, it was my father who showed me the way. He has always painted and for my 9th birthday he gave me my first oil painting box. As a teenager I discovered old film cameras at home and started to try my hand at photography. These two mediums are still my favourites today. At the university, I chose an Art course where I trained with all imaginable mediums. I was very curious and experimented as much as I could. Today, I still like to switch from one medium to another and I love to mix them up. This is why I take great pleasure in making my own sets for my photoshoots. I also create my own painted backgrounds for my photo studio and founded Z-RoC Backdrops (@z_roc_backdrops_paris) 3 years ago.


What is the most difficult part of being a photographer for you and why?

With the way I work, the most difficult thing is to respect the set construction deadlines and still have the necessary time to create beautiful atmospheres with the lighting before shooting. It is sometimes also frustrating to deal with the lack of space. Building a setting (in my photo studio or my painting studio) in which we can evolve and that creates the illusion to be in a real place, if we don’t have huge rooms, is not always easy.

It’s also hard to find THE muse who will pose for the project. Finding the right person who understands both the project and the process is important. I spend a lot of time going through the profiles that contact me or those I find on instagram. Especially since my projects are not always easy for the model to stage.

For instance, during the “Empyrée” project Céline (@inspiredtattooportraits) showed incredible patience and resistance. During the same shoot, we poured water on her body, we immersed her in the basin of the set and we made her wear some very uncomfortable shoulder pads with lighted candles on her shoulders... All that having the “Geisha” shooting carried out the same morning.

You must therefore prepare the model well and listen to her because without it, nothing is possible.


What is the most rewarding part of being a photographer for you?

I think there are two. For many years I have drawn and painted surreal characters and universes. I've always been frustrated with the time it takes to make a canvas for a single image.

When I decided to transpose my pictorial universe into photography, it was very liberating from this point of view. And when the model brings this character to life, which I imagined in my head for a long time, it's really magical. I am always moved to see the personality that the muse brings to the character by playing it. It's a bit like meeting (in real life) someone with whom you've had a long correspondence.

The second most rewarding thing about being a photographer, when working on big projects, is bringing together several talents in one work. Working with artists (MUA, hairdressers or fashion designers ...) is always a great adventure and it's very rewarding.


We want to talk about the “Fantasy” Photo theme of yours. Can you tell us more about your artistic style?

Honestly, I'm not sure I can or want to define my style. I am not analytical with my work, nor am I trying to understand why I create that or that. On the contrary I love to lose myself in these sensations, in these dreams, without limits.

There is rarely a subject, a precise theme at the beginning. First there are sensations and images with recurring elements, probably from my experience, from my unconscious.

Music, painting and also the education I had as a child, experiences in life, meetings, travels ... are all important elements in my creative process. So to speak, my style is all these elements put together. There is then a subconscious process I leave to express and which puts all of this "in order".

What is certain is that music is an important vector, it conditions me. It is often that that provokes the first images in my head and brings color to a project. If I start a project with a certain style of music or an artist in my ears, I will keep it with me until the post-production work of the project.


We see a touch of Japan Culture and The divine feminine energy in your “Geisha” collection. Can you share the details of this series with us?

I'm glad you see something like that here. It’s not something that is consciously wanted at the beginning, but you’re not the first to tell me so. However, I have a real fascination with all the iconography related to the divine and there is certainly a bit of that influence here, in the way I enlighten Celine. This series makes an impression and yet, the composition is very simple! Especially since there are only 2 dominant colors. The red of the outfit / accessories and the blue. Celine is fully tattooed and I chose to create a painted background in the same shades of blue as her skin. The choice of the way to highlight the model was therefore essential for it to work.

Once again, I sincerely believe that Céline was the ideal model for this project. She has precisely a mystical grace in her gestures and she gives off both a certain form of softness and strength.

The Geisha card, I'd had it up my sleeve for a while, but never had a chance to play it. This theme finally came by an association of ideas during the finalization of the project. I already had the atmosphere, the colors, the model fully tattooed ... I necessarily needed a strong and striking iconography. I pitched the idea of the Geisha to Christophe Pujol, a talented makeup artist and hairdresser, who worked with us on this project. I just gave him a few hints of what I'd like and gave him free rein to express his art.

The strong style of Christophe Pujol is recognizable among thousands and this gives a powerful identity to the character.

I sincerely believe that there are times in life that are providential, when the planets align. The Geisha project is, in my opinion, one of them.


What professional photographers have influenced your work?

In general, I like artists who have a surreal and dreamlike universe or at least who tell an original, mysterious story.

The first ones that I will mention are not photographers, for they are Salvador Dalì and Tim Burton.
As for the photographers, I will quote two, Paolo Roversi and Tim Walker. Paolo Roversi for all the sensitivity in his work and Tim Walker for the incredible stories he tells.

I think they played a huge role in the creation of my universe.



http://marvelousartgallery.com/

aureliacordiez.com

https://www.instagram.com/aurelia.cordiez/

Hello Dear Howard Fox. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?

I cannot say that the pandemic has influenced my style or my subject matter, but in the beginning it did provide a very interesting backdrop to my painting of "Utopia on the River Eden".

I found myself painting an idealized city, infused with beautiful architecture mixed with the sublime that nature offers, while people across the world, as well as myself,  were fearing for their lives and wondering what the future had in store.

Utopian thoughts mixed with the terror of an unseen killer was quite a powerful artistic force.


Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what drove you to choose art as a career?

I was born in Canada, in the mid fifties in a middle class environment.  From my earliest recollections I was scribbling and or painting on pieces of paper and cardboard.  I can still see myself lying on the floor of the salon, in front of the black and white television screen, my crayons and colored pencils scattered around me, drawing a child’s concept of a city, as well as sports figures.

I was pretty good at it, and never imagined myself being anything else other than an artist.  Sure I dreamed of being a star athelete, but that did not happen.  So I settled on being me, a painter of paintings, a dreamer of dreams.

In other words art chose me.

What was the most challenging project that you worked on?

My latest work, Utopia on the River Eden, was probably the most challenging.  The work is quite large, the largest piece I have done until now.  I was faced with creating a geography conducive to the creation of the idyllic urban-scape, The buildings had to represent much of the eclectic and awe inspiring architecture I had witnessed in my life.

It is important to note, that I grew up in Canada, a virtual wasteland of dull, uninspired right angled architecture.  There was no joy to the buildings, little if any imagination.  Not until I spent time in Israel and Europe could I even imagine the aesthetic and historical possibilities.  Trips to Turkey and the Far East served to expand my understanding of the passion that went into creating urban monuments to the dreams and hopes of humankind.  Of course like all perfect cities, the city is built around a river, the source of life.

I enjoyed the work immensely, surrounded by the silence of a world in lockdown.  it was truly a gratifying experience, and I am happy to say that the work has found a good home.


What is your creative process like? How has your style changed over the years?

Like everyone else, my days and nights are spent with thoughts spinning around in my head.  Unlike most people, I try and harness these thoughts and weave them into ideas to be placed on a white canvas.

Just as the shoe salesman sees the shoes people wear as he/she walks down the street, my brain pays attention to shadows and light, as well as the rather mundane things that for some peculiar reason spark my imagination.

My style has gone through a few changes over the years.  As a kid it was a mixed bag of colored pencil drawings and a stab at oil painting.  I am a self taught painter.

I spent a lot of time doodling in class, with a Bic pen.  After graduating I found myself creating cities on Arches paper using a Bic pen, either black or blue.  Trouble with Bic pens is the ink, it disappears.  On my first trip to Greece, I found myself drinking a beer on Paradise Beach in the small restaurant, when I spotted someone sitting across the room and drawing.

I approached to see what he was drawing, and discovered the Rotring drafting pen.  I fell in love with the pen and the technique.  Dots became me, I just loved the feeling of the dots meshing to create a figure, an object, light and dense shadow.
 
After doing dots for a few years, I realized that I had not given oil colors an chance.  Of course the first painting I did came out as mud.  But as time went on I refined my style.  I was always enamoured with the surrealist painters, as well as Bruegel the Elder.  I found these works magical, both candy for the eye, and food for the brain.

I began painting works I called fiction.  Like a good work of fiction they appeared to be real but were all based on a fictitious story.

 
We want to talk about the “Hotel Utopia” Collection of yours. Can you tell us more about your Collection?

Back in 2014, I had a near fatal heart attack while singing the blues on stage.  After coming back from a stopped heart, the blues man in me prefers to call it a broken heart, I began to wonder what it is all about.  What are we actually in search of?  What makes us happy?

The term utopia seemed to implant itself on my mind.  I was aware that if asked most people when asked about their utopia will speak of a pastoral setting, in the country, yet they choose to live in urban environments, surrounded by traffic, noise, pollution of all sorts, violence, and the loss of the night sky.

Human kind is complex.  Next question was how long do these moments of perfection last?  A moment, a minute, an hour, a day, a week?
That is when it clicked, Hotel Utopia.  A hotel which offers you the Utopian experience for an hour, or a night, a day, a week , for however long it takes.

We complex beings have very different ideas of what Utopia looks like, feels like and smells like.  One man’s heaven is another man’s hell, as the saying goes.

At this time I am focused on Hotel Utopia, and discovering all its dimensions, aesthetics and the eclectic nature of what we call the ideal.


We see that your artworks name like a “Babel the Fall” and “Utopia on the River Eden. Can you share the details of this titles stories with us?

I have long been fascinated by history.  As a Jew, I tap the stories of the Torah for ideas and stories.  For example the “Fall of Babel” depicts the moment the Tower of Babel fell.  The original story from the Bible is only six lines in length, giving only the bare bones of what must have been a truly awesome event.  In my pictorial version of events, it is not only a lack of a common language that drives people apart, but a total breakdown of any means of communication.  In the painting a crane operator, yes I put a modern day crane into the story, armed with a wrecking ball, is supposed to be following directions from another worker.  In the work the laborer gestures from the crane to move left, but instead the crane operator moves his wrecking ball to the right, taking out a few columns and a wall, causing the whole structure to fall.

It is not just a story of miscommunication but a thorough breakdown of society and whatever shared goals, in this case misplaced, they had.  The Torah calls it the work of God, and who am I to disagree.

Utopia works on two levels, the micro, which is the individual human being and on the macro level, which is society as a whole.

Humans have their own tastes, whether it be food, design, lifestyles and or sexual habits, while societies seek the utopian experience through ideologies and religion.

The promise of a messiah, is meant to bring people together to pray for the “coming” and to act in a certain manner in which to insure that the chosen one comes.  I personally am certain that not everyone shares the same concept of the perfect world after the “coming”, but so be it, this idea of a better world for those who believe has worked on many for centuries.

With the arrival of modernity, and the placing of God on the shelf, human kind developed ideologies.  All of them promising a better world, a perfect world in which leaders are glorified, workers are heroes and money can solve all of societies ills.  Take your choice, some have failed miserably while others have done quite well, though never pleasing everyone.

 These works and the titles are meant to help paint a picture.  I employ dilemmas like a Giant Baby attacking the local Walmart, what to do?

 Or a grown up giant is found sleeping on the city’s central bridge, again what to do.  We can either react with violence or more peaceful methods.  Nothing is assured of working, and that is typical of the physical and moral dilemmas that confront us daily as we live our lives.


What are you working on at the moment?

As we speak I am finishing off a piece entitled “Hotel Utopia, The Voyeur”.  The work is made up a brick building, that being the facade of the hotel.  In each window is another scene, depicting the guests enjoying their stay, doing what they have chosen as their moment of utopian bliss.

The viewer of the work is the voyeur, peering from a safe distance into windows hosting scantily clad women doing what women do when they are wearing little.  A party is taking place on the top floor, while next door a woman is painting an oil painting on canvas.  Below is a sexual neural character reading a book.  In a blue lit room a man holds a gun, and appears to be aiming the weapon at someone we do not see.

I have two more windows to fill and am weighing my options, either go for the utterly mundane or the erotic.
 


www.howardfox.com

https://www.instagram.com/howardfox.art/

http://marvelousartgallery.com/

 

Exclusive Interview with Maria Pia Mosquera
(Marvelous Art Gallery – 2021)


Hello Dear  Maria Pia Mosquera. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?
 
Hi and thank you for having me! Oh well, this pandemic has had multiple effects on my art. Since Covid-19 came into our lives and the lockdowns started, we had to reassess our social interactions, our relationship with illness and health, time and all those simple pleasures that we took for granted.
 
Firstly, for me, Covid meant that lots of my work as an exhibition designer was postponed or cancelled. This created a vacuum for my creative energy and it took me a couple of weeks to re-channel this creativity. The news we saw from around the world were so devastating, and the sadness that lingered made think deeper about mortality and death. My family is in Colombia, I’m in Australia, and I couldn’t be with them. I felt very low. I started seeking refuge from the news in my imagination and started contemplating how to turn all this darkness around. So, fortunately for me I was able to put to pen to paper, or brush to board, and consolidate The Penitents series.

 
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what drove you to choose art as a career?
 
I was born in Bogotá, Colombia. Because of my dad’s work I got to live in different countries, my last stop was Australia 24 years ago. Art has always been an integral part of my life. My mother is a painter and since I was a little girl, I used to love drawing portraits of our pets and later of our family members. Sometimes I would write poems and add landscapes to them, I made my own illustrated books.
 
As a career it took time. The love and desire were always there, but at home my parents didn’t see it at first as a professional option. So, from Law, then Ecology until I got to Graphic Design, which I studied with a major in illustration. From there things started to take off. I have studied in multiple art schools in Colombia and Australia, developing my technique and my visual language.
 

Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?

It can be, but it’s that time with your thoughts that is crucial for invention. I run my own graphic design consultancy, so I do spend a lot of time on my own.  I found that the best way for me to navigate my days is in sections and tasks. If I know what I have to do, there’s not much time to feel lonely or lost, it’s straight to work, no time to waste.
 
I’m a gregarious person, an extrovert even, so I try to catch up with friends and family regularly. I love music, seeing bands is one of my greatest pleasures. Plus, the daily social interactions are what I find interesting and fuel parts of my work. Back at home, I make sure I have plenty of family time, cuddles with my husband, son and cat. Sometimes they tell me I talk too much; I think they forget that probably that day I haven’t spoken to anyone else.
 
Can’t wait for the lockdowns to be over so I get to see people in the flesh again!

 
Can you describe a real-life situation that inspired you as an Artist?

Everyday life inspires me, even the most mundane actions inspire me. Going to the supermarket, catching the bus. I’m always looking and taking these mental pictures. Maybe because I’m always thinking how that would translate into the stories, how would that action be if the people catching the bus are devils and demons, for example. I’m hopeful that my audience can see themselves reflected in the imagery, that moment when you say: “That has happened to me!”

 
We want to talk about the Fantastic creatures in your Artworks. Can you tell us more about your theme and how do you choose the subject of your painting?
 
Since I started making art I realised that the surreal and the absurd attracted me more than hyperrealism and still lives. Story telling is important for me too. So these fantastic creatures are companions, messengers and actors for my crazy ideas. I can make them do whatever I want.
 
A theme that’s constantly present in my work is death, the objective of my current work is to challenge this preconception of death as something macabre. Death is the only thing certain in this life, so putting it in a scary light makes no sense. We can lose fear of something by making it friendly, humorous. The skull (calavera) for example, why fear it? We all have one, underneath our flesh, and it will remain as the eternal smile at the end of our lives. By finding the humour in it I hope to shift this relationship.
 
Death is certain, laugh at it!
 

Can you explain to us and our readers to “The Penitents" Collection of yours?
 
The Penitents are a dream, a place where the boundary between life and death is blurred. In this place, these hooded characters find themselves coexisting with their tormentors, these devils that torture them, this death that haunts them. And the reality is that they have lived with them for so long, that they don’t remember anymore how they got there, or why they are there. They just live with them, under cloak and robe and the weight of their sins, waiting for the eternal smile.
 
In the series, that’s over 30 paintings, and also includes a wallpaper and felt toys, I wanted to show as much as possible of their everyday lives. How they interact with these creatures, how they fill their days, how they learned to coexist. My wish was for the audience to have a giggle and see themselves represented in the characters.
 
The Penitents are deeply rooted to my Latin-American heritage. I see them as celebration of my culture. Growing up in Latin-America, surrounded by so much history, symbolism and faith, all these elements are part of my tradition and are part of my folklore. Something very strong in Latin America is the presence of religious colonial art. In Bogotá for example, it’s present not only in churches and museums, but in people’s homes. Religious art is part of the everyday.  In the paintings there’s also present pagan symbolism.
 
The Penitents borrow the look directly from the Nazarene penitents, they are Catholic religious groups that dress up with the capirotes (pointy hoods) during the processions at Easter. They are present around Latin areas of Europe and Latin-America. And no, they are not KKK — how the KKK took their outfits from them is another story.
 
  
Anything else you'd like to mention that I didn't ask?
 
Something I get asked regularly is that if I’m religious. The answer is no.
I was born and raised Catholic, but for a long time now I don’t practise any religion. My relationship with the church as an institution is very different to my relationship with religious symbolism and elements that are part of my culture.
 
And I guess, what I’m working on now? Currently I’m embarking on the research for a new series, I can tell you there will be more fantastical and crazier creatures, and it will dwell in the lives of the messengers of the underworld, prepare to be tempted.
 
And thank you for having me! xxx
 

 www.maria-pia-mosquera.com 
 
 https://www.instagram.com/mariapiamosquera/
 
http://marvelousartgallery.com/

 
Exclusive Interview with Toto Lara

(Marvelous Art Gallery – 2021)
 
Hello Dear Toto Lara. Thank you for giving us the chance to Interview with you. Our first question is how the “Covid-19” affects your art?

Hello and thank you for inviting me. The truth is that the pandemic has not affected my art in a significant way, I mean in terms of the general topic that characterizes my work. In contrast, I have always been waiting and imagining a dystopic reality as well as landscapes. This can be confirmed through my artwork because my paintings can talk by themselves, and they can narrate stories of a real world rather than a simple artistic illusion or an imaginary world. I personally dedicate my time in trying to take my work out of the canvas in order to enhance my artistic language towards the art of tattooing.

I believe that the only way Covid-19 has impacted my work is by giving me more time to learn a new technique so I can capture my work on flesh.



What is your creative process like? How has your style changed over the years?

My work methodology comes mainly from my own dreams, nightmares, phobias, and fantasies. These images are visualized on paper as sketches, which are the base to structure the form, color, and composition of the painting. From being an architect for over 10 years, I have learned how to analyze deeply the context of my work, and from that point started my creative process.
All my thoughts took finally form on the canvas, where I developed my surrealistic vision of the present where we live. In general, my process includes drawings, photographs, 3D models and painting complemented by the study of artists of my interest and the current news.
 
Regarding the evolution and the progress of my style, I can tell you that the topic and the thing that I am trying to transmit to my audience has always been the same, but the expression and the language have been changed a lot during my career.  I believe that this is a result of a gradual process of constant search of my own way of expression. The study of various techniques, artists, and the concern of how to go further and not just paint, are fundamental. During the years, one gains more knowledge, gets to know theories and is experimenting new techniques. By my personal experience, I can tell you that Architecture and the academic studies of Art, have been a strong pillar that allowed me to paint in the exact way that I have always imagined.
 

We want to talk about the Surreal - Fantasy theme you choose for your main subject for your art. Can you tell us more about your theme and what is your artwork exploring, underneath everything?
 
The central theme is the body in the process of transformation, an actual topic that is part of humanity today, where we can see nature, human beings, machines, technology and artificial intelligence merged to generate a single being. The transformation of the body and its fusion with the abnormal shape is the main topic of my proposal, manifested by a personal perspective.
Our body is one and another, it changes, according to the different places or situations in which it acts, is a mental conflict in the different dimensions we live in. My motivation is presented as a personal effort to analyze human evolution.
In a period dominated by the acceleration of change and the omnipotence of the spectacle through the mass media, the individual is alienated and dissociated. The "I" stops being a stable identity in order to coincide with the body, it is transformed into something changing and diverse.
My proposal seeks to present the metamorphosis of the body as a metaphor for the relationship of the individual with his own self, and with his body, since all the experiences we may have been limited and are thanks to the body. It is the space where all experiences are lived.
I do not want people to see the obvious, to see just a painting, I want them to be able to see through it and discover a reality that does not exist in this dimension.
 

How does art-making impact other parts of your life?
 
Art changed my life, I got to know myself and who I am, I have learned that it is my natural way of communicating with society, here I found tranquility and an emotional stability that I never had before.
 
The Art give me the opportunity to exercise critical thinking, experience a renewed self-awareness, and potentially even a deeper connection to others and their experiences, as we share what we feel and try to interpret what we see.

 
What’s been your greatest artistic success and why?
 
Making a living from Art and doing the thing that I love the most in life. Enjoying every second of my life is something priceless.  

 
How do current trends in the artistic community influence your work?
 
Currently, the tendencies of the world of Art that I am following are mostly inspired by Dark Art. But my studies of color use have strongly influenced my expression. Nowadays my paintings are full of vivid colors, but my message remains dark. In this way I am targeting any kind of audience.

https://www.totolara.com/
 
https://www.instagram.com/totolara/
 
http://marvelousartgallery.com/