What made you approach art and become an artist? (events, feelings, experiences...).
I always knew I would be an artist. In my childhood, in our house art occupied the highest place. Every year my parents went to Paris or Italy and visited museums there. Sometimes they took me too. My first life memories are related to a large beautifully illustrated art history book that I loved looking through. At an early age, I tried my hand at various arts, but when I was 24 years old, I had my first solo exhibition and then I knew that I would be painting all my life. I felt so natural in painting and I knew I was in the right place. I especially liked that painting speaks a universal language that I don't need a translator for.
What is your artistic journey, techniques and subjects you have experimented with to date?
In the beginning, I made paintings on wooden panels, where I made the drawing with paste that I made myself, and over that I painted with oil. It gave the impression of an expressive stained glass window. After that I gave up the paste and continued to paint with oil. The canvases were getting bigger, and the drawing retreated in front of the paint. Then I discovered acrylic. I was delighted with the results that can be achieved when using an expressive way of painting. As the canvases grew, so did my excitement in working on the painting. In the beginning, I did female portraits, then Eve, then Adam and Eve, so that in the end I left the figure and focused on nature, on the heavenly beauty of nature.
What are 3 aspects that differentiate you from other artists, making your work unique?
I think freedom of expression is what characterizes me. I don't shy away from taking a step away from my usual style and doing something completely different. I don't paint pintings so that they look good as a whole in an exhibition. I paint each painting separately. I focus on that one painting, not the opus. I see painting as a privilege and I am happy while paint. The energy of joy, pleasure in creation is important for all my paintings. Color is my third characteristic. I am delighted with color as a material and the most important thing in my painting is color. Intense, ringing, clear - COLOR.
Where does your inspiration come from?
I am inspired by my paintings and the paintings of other painters. I am inspired by nature. I am inspired by the painting of ancient civilizations. It inspires me when someone enthusiastically tells me about a paintins they saw that I didn't. Color inspires me. Everything about color inspires me. It inspires me when it is in a thick layer, and when it is azure, and when it flows, and when they stand next to each other in an unexpected relationship, and when they stand next to each other harmoniously. Color is the most inspiring thing for me in art. I also get inspired when I walk into a painting supplies store and see the colors.
What is the intent of your art? What visions, sensations or feelings do you want to evoke in the viewer?
I want people to feel comfortable when they look at my paintings. I like it when my paintings bring a spirit of harmony and cheerfulness. The image must not be boring. It must have something interesting that attracts attention
What is the process of creation of your works? Spontaneous or with a long preparatory process (technique, inspiration from art classics or other)?
I prepare for a painting by thinking about an idea that I want to convey on the canvas. I usually summarize that idea in the image title. But the image itself arises spontaneously. Sometimes she experiences transformations through the process and goes through many changes to the finished image.
What techniques do you prefer?If yes, can you explain it?
I mostly paint with acrylic, because it best suits my way of painting. In acrylic it is possible to work very expressively and, since it dries quickly, it is possible to follow the flow of one's own thoughts, make unexpected turns, change things quickly, immediately see the result of an experiment. These are all the advantages of acrylic. But sometimes I also paint with oil. ( When I get nostalgic for some past times. )
Are there any innovative aspects to your work? Can you tell us which ones?
What is innovative about my paintings is that they are very personal. I think they only look like themselves and that is their quality.
Do you have a format or medium that you are most comfortable with?If yes, Why?
I work in almost all formats, but I like painting larger and large formats the most. Somehow, the bigger format is more challenging for me, it's more inspiring. I like it when the format is my size, then we're kind of equal.
Where do you produce your work? At home, in a shared or private studio? And within this space how is your production organized?
I have an apartment that I turned into a studio. So I wouldn't say that I paint in an apartment, but that I live in a studio. It is the ideal way of life and work for me. I can paint at any time of the day or night - whenever I want, and painting is for me the most interesting thing I can do.
Does your work lead you to travel to meet new collectors, for shows or exhibitions? If so, what do you gain from it?
I used to do several exhibitions a year, but now I don't need it anymore. I experienced the Internet as a great revolution. I paint in my studio, and through the Internet I can see everything that is happening in the world of painting, and the whole world can see what I do.
How do you imagine the evolution of your work and your figure as an artist in the future?
I have many ideas, but experience has taught me that you need to implement an idea to see if the idea was good. All that takes time. That's why I don't want to think too much about the distant future. I focus on the paintings I am currently working on.
What is the topic, style, or technique of your latest artistic production?
Lately I have been interested in the topic of herbariums. It is something beautiful and symbolic. I have painted 3 paintings so far, but I think I will paint more on that theme. Stylistically, I am becoming more and more abstract, and I will not change the acrylic technique.
Can you tell us about your most important exhibition experience?
I think the exhibition I had at the Museum of Vojvodina in Novi Sad was the best. It was a very large exhibition space in a beautiful museum building. I exhibited a large number of large-format works. Then my topic was Paradise. I recorded a video where the camera moved through my close-up paintings. Since my paintings are very colorful, the whole video was a celebration of color. Then we projected that video through the video beam over the entire Museum building. That wonderful baroque building was bathed in color. Colors flickered on the facade, and people who came to the exhibition passed through that beam of color and immersed themselves in the paintings. It was very beautiful and one could feel some joy. That exhibition remained in my memory as something special.
If you could have created a famous work in the history of art, which one would you choose? And why would you choose it?
I would paint Matisse's "Nasturtiumus with Dance II". It's a wonderful painting. It contains a painting within a painting. The image "Dance II" is the background for a pot of nasturtiumus plant. It is so meaningful, and the painting itself is beautiful and in line with my endeavors in painting.
If you could invite a famous artist (dead or living) to dinner, who would it be? How would you propose him/her to spend the evening?
Without any competition, I would invite Matis. Next to Picasso, I admire him the most. Mathis was a nice and measured gentleman with whom it would certainly have been pleasant to spend an evening. I would suggest that he tell me about his experiences with that crazy Picasso, in a relationship with whom I am interested in everything, but with whom I would never dare to go to dinner.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
