What prompted you to create art and become an artist (events, feelings, experiences...)?
I think it has always been part of my daily life. As a child, I saw my mother draw, paint. My sister was part of a photo club. My father-in-law is a drummer, my uncle a guitarist. For my part, I was dancing. I didn't go to museums (I grew up in a small village of Puisaye in the Yonne, it didn't run the streets), but had access to a lot of art books at home or at the neighbor's.
There wasn't much to do. This allowed me to have the luxury of being bored and thus developing my imagination and creating. I took a lot of disposable photos. It was magical to wait a week and finally hold the cover with our photos in it and discover them. As a teenager, I took up the guitar. We had a group with friends. For my 19th birthday, they offered me a film reflex and that was the beginning of the adventure. I gradually abandoned music for photography.
And today it has become a necessity, a constant need to give life to the ideas that hang around in my head, to express myself, to free myself from certain emotions through this art.
What is your artistic background, the techniques and themes with which you have experimented so far?
I set foot in art history faculty, but my inability to speak in public made me give up this path a few days before my oral. I regret a little today but I try to catch up. For photography, I trained at the Campus des Métiers et de l'Artisanat de Bobigny as an apprentice for three years. I was able to learn the history of photography and the technical part of the profession. I then worked in a photo shop in Seine-et-Marne, which allowed me to deepen my skills in the lab (retouching, development, printing) and studio, while practicing social and school photography.
Since 2018 I have been self-employed and devote myself to my personal projects such as "States Ladies" or "The Spirits of the Forest" for example, around portraiture and nature.
What are the 3 aspects that differentiate you from other artists, making your work unique?
Wow... I don't know. My life, my story, my DNA...? What can differentiate me from others other than that? As for my work, I don't know if it is unique. We may have totally different life paths, but we often find works with a similar sensitivity. I try to do original things, I don't like copy or social media trends where as soon as something works, everyone reproduces it endlessly. But we can't know everyone's work, and everything has already been more or less done. It's all about being sincere in what you want to express. To do something that looks like us and speaks to us.
Where does your inspiration come from?
Everywhere. As a child I collected photos and albums of Madonna and Mylène Farmer, I watched their clips over and over. That's how I discovered the work of Herb Ritts, David Fincher, Mondino. I also keep strong images of the Wizard of Oz, films by Terry Gilliam, Baz Lhurmann, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, many album covers including those of the Doors (Joel Brodsky), Queen (Frank Kelly Freas), Pink Floyd (Storm Thorgerson),... Later, I devoured the work of MC Escher, Sarah Moon, August Sander, Anton Corbijn, Elliott Erwitt, André Kertesz, Edward Steichen, Sebastiao Salgado, Anders Petersen, Robert Mapplethorpe, Antoine d'Agata and so many others. I admire Magritte, Turner, Rembrandt and Courbet in painting, as well as the work of the artists present at the Naia Museum. In literature, it's Dracula, Stephen King, Philip K. Dick and Fabcaro who have left their mark on my imagination. Without forgetting nature, music and dance, but the list is already too long!
What is your artistic approach? What visions, sensations or feelings do you want to evoke in the viewer?
Behind my images are often hiding quite heavy and personal things. I like to turn them into something lighter, which can have different degrees of reading. I prefer not to say too much about my intentions and leave the spectator free of his interpretations. I like when my work resonates with others, but also when it challenges them, questions them, whatever the reason. And when the spectator gives free rein to his imagination and begins to dream for a few moments in my images, then there, it is a real pleasure. I tell myself that I did not do this for nothing.
What is the process of creating your works? Spontaneous or with a long preparatory process (technical, inspiration from art classics or other)?
For my self-portraits, the idea is very spontaneous. She comes like that, sometimes even in a dream. I write it down in a notebook as soon as possible. And I create it afterwards as soon as I have free time.
For my forest spirits, I have textures in mind, lights. I walk through the forest at different times and different seasons and stock up on images. And I then create them according to my inspiration and my desire of the moment.
Do you use a particular working technique? If yes, can you explain it?
There is a technique common to both series, it is collage. I did a lot when I was a teenager, it stayed with me, but in digital version. I use it for some of my self-portraits which are the result of the collage of two photographs taken using the camera's self-timer or a remote control. For my forest spirits, I mirror my base photograph several times and then play with the overlays as well, until the creature appears to me.
Are there innovative aspects in your work? Can you tell us which ones?
I do not believe. At the technical level it's very simple, minimalist, made with what I have on hand, or DIY things for the occasion.
Do you have a format or medium that you feel more comfortable with? If yes, why?
I have a soft spot for the 30 x 40 cm format and textured natural fine art paper in cotton or hemp, matte or pearl. It's a good compromise when you don't have too much room on the walls in small spaces, and it still allows you to take advantage of the small details. Afterwards, I would like to be able to print large format for my forest spirits, they are made for. From 80 x 80 or exceed the meter. But it requires a certain investment and space for storage. Which I don't have at the moment. Maybe someday !
Where do you produce your works? At home, in a shared studio or in your own studio? And in this space, how do you organize your creative work?
I produce my works at home. In my little living room. I push the furniture for the occasion. Everything has to be set up, photographed and taken down in three, four hours maximum so as not to encroach on family life. I make my prints myself in my office-workshop, a small room in the house. I also do my touch-ups, my finishes,... and in music, always!
Does your work lead you to travel to meet new collectors, for fairs or exhibitions? If so, what does it bring you?
I'm a pretty wild and lonely person. The slightest exit from my cocoon is already a journey for me. I do some exhibitions in the region. I never go very far, but it's always a great experience and great encounters. It rejuvenates and fills us with good energies.
How do you imagine the evolution of your work and your career as an artist in the future?
I live from day to day, I find it difficult to project myself into the future. But I would like to be able to live from it one day, for sure, and have enough imagination to continue creating again and again.
In the near future, I see myself continuing my two series, daring more things, asking myself fewer questions. I would like to exhibit more and in new places, hide my "forest spirits" in the forest of Fontainebleau and transform the exhibition into a kind of treasure hunt. I would love to be able to create an album cover too one day.
What is the theme, style or technique of your latest artistic production?
My latest creation is a project entitled "Faire Face", exhibited recently. Faceless self-portraits, in an attempt to answer questions such as: Can turning your back be a way of facing up? Do you have to show your face at all costs to exist? Do we have to lose face to find it? How do you deal with others when it's hard to deal with yourself? Always in a slightly quirky and absurd way.
Can you tell us about your most important exhibition experience?
This is my participation in the summer of portraits of Bourbon-Lancy. These international meetings of photographic portrait have always been a dream that I thought inaccessible since my studies. In 2021 I decided to dare. I sent three photos and one of them, "Simulacres", received a silver medal from the jury composed of 5 MOF photographers (Meilleurs Ouvriers de France). I had a hard time realizing. Then I said to myself that maybe I needed to be more daring. It was the trigger.
If you could create one famous work in art history, what would it be? And why ?
I believe it would be the work of August Sander, "Men of the Twentieth Century". Because it's a monumental project that has always fascinated me. To dedicate his life to photographing the people of his time in a simple and objective way. From birth to death, from worker to bourgeois, man, woman, child. A fantastic work, which contrasts with our time filled with superficial portraits, caricatures. "Humans of the 21st century" would be interesting to do to find the simplicity and sincerity of today's human, without artifice.
If you could invite one famous artist (dead or alive) to dinner, who would it be? How would you suggest they spend the evening?
I would dream of a dinner with Sarah Moon, Patti Smith and Marie-Agnès Gillot. Listen to them talk about their life, their experiences, their encounters, their struggles. And play music, dance and create together. A sweet dream!
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
