What inspired you to create art and become an artist? (events, feelings, experiences...)
My grandfather and the support of my family. Many artists don't have that and I was lucky to be born in artistic family. I was interested in art from my childhood and when I was about 9 I visited the exhibition of my first teacher that was so amazing to me at that time that I enrolled to his school. To be honest, I’m not sure what else I can do, it’s the only thing I’ve wanted to do and been interested in.
What is your artistic background, the techniques and subjects you have experimented with so far?
I’ve worked across various media. I started when I was 7 years at Watercolour school, worked there with pencils, charcoal, enamel, then when I was 15 my grandpa gave me my first oil lesson. I fell in love with oil straight away but still continued experiments with different media like acrylic, tempera, coloured pencils, pen-liners and different subjects, landscapes, portraits, still life. But after all that I keep coming back to oil for portraits, and I continue to do watercolour portraits as hobby. But I’m always curious about other ways of working, so I expect I’ll try other things as I go. Jewellery making would be cool.
What are the 3 aspects that differentiate you from other artists, making your work unique?
I pay a lot of attention to details in my art. Sometimes too much but I enjoy it. That doesn’t mean hyper-realism, if fact I don’t find that very impressive, but it’s about making the detail work in the painting. Also, the choice and use of colours is important for me. As you can see I have many bright juicy colourful works. Perhaps that’s from so many dark and grey Russian winters! And of course another aspect of many of my paintings is light. I like working with the light, recreating sunshine, challenging light effects, things like that.
Where does your inspiration come from?
Mostly It comes from travelling and different places. I have a good imagination, but I usually need it to be triggered by something I saw in real life. New life experiences can give you different thoughts and ideas for art. But I am mostly inspired by people, people in places, people in different settings. Portraits are my passion and I think I am good at feeling and then painting people's feelings and psychology. At least I hope so.
What is your artistic approach? What visions, sensations or feelings do you want to evoke in the viewer?
I generally work in series, which gives me a chance to explore an idea across a number of works. Depending on the series, I want to evoke different feelings and sensations. But I try in all my paintings to bring some kind of harmony and beauty in peoples life. I think beauty is important. But it’s not always classical beauty, or popular beauty. And in the end, the works have a kind of energy that I hope the viewer and see and feel.
What is the process of creating your works? Spontaneous or with a long preparatory process (technical, inspiration from art classics or other)?
It's very spontaneous. I see something that gives me a particular feeling or impulse and then I have to immediately put it on canvas and the canvas would lead me in that process in most cases. If I paint something more complicated with many figures I do preparatory works, buy not too detailed. If I plan it too much I lose the impulse and sometimes even get lost, or the idea changes and then the composition doesn’t work. I need to get it out of my head and down on the canvas as quickly as I can.
Do you use a particular work technique? if so, can you explain it?
I use classical oil fat over lean techniques as my grandpa taught me. In that sense I have quite traditional techniques. But I think that training has been very important - it gives me the confidence to work.
Are there any innovative aspects in your work? Can you tell us which ones?
Hmm, I’m not sure I’m very innovative really, it's hard to be innovative especially if you use classical technique. I focuse on being genuine instead. When you are genuine your work becomes unique anyway. And sometimes you find new twists like I used in Splash series with transparent bikinis or dark sky in Sun Gods that creates a particular feeling.
Do you have a format or medium that you are most comfortable with? if yes, why ?
Definitely Oils, because I can achieve brightness and glow of colours, I like colours bright and deep and volume. I can play with texture in oils, paint thin like watercolours or thick when I want to. It gives me variety and options.
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 work mostly in my studio that is located outside of Moscow. I like to paint alone without distractions so I organise it for me, my personal space. It's full of art books and things that can give me inspiration. Otherwise it's a normal artists studio with easel and paint, nothing special
Does your work lead you to travel to meet new collectors, for fairs or exhibitions? If so, what does it bring you?
I have participated in international art fairs and group shows, it brings me more people know about my art and I find new collectors. I’d like to do more of that even though I’m not so good with socialising. And I’ve recently done a residency in Morocco which was an amazing experience.
How do you imagine the evolution of your work and your career as an artist in the future?
Every new series is a surprise for me, so I never know what style or topic I choose next. But I know that my technique will be always improving and that my art will most likely be always figurative more or less.
What is the theme, style or technique of your latest artistic production?
My latest series is called Sun Gods. I painted Russian people on the beach enjoying the last days of sunshine before the storm. I use high contrast between their bodies lit by the late afternoon sun and dark blue sky. This series is realism but the figures look big be reminding me of Gods, as I deliberately lower the horizon. I love the body shapes, real people, and these kind of sun worshipping rituals, desperate to catch the last sun rays.
Can you tell us about your most important exhibition experience?
My most important and biggest exhibition "Under The Sunbeams" has just finished in Saint Petersburg in Erarta - one of the biggest contemporary art museums in Russia. It was on for 3 months and it brought me a lot of publicity, new art collectors and followers in social media. Even copiers! It contained 2 series of workes that were done over few years. It’s been a great step up.
If you could have created a famous work in the history of art, which one would you choose? And why ?
It think would be the Garden of Earthly delights by Bosch.
I first saw it only recently in real life and I was stunned by its colours, contrasts and imagination and the idea of triptych. So much going on there.
Maybe because sometimes I think I am missing the imaginative part in my work and go too realistic. This piece has endless imagination and at the same time is complicated but structured and has the perfect composition. I think about how unusual and terrifying it must have been for that time.
If you could invite one famous artist (dead or alive) to dinner, who would it be? How would you suggest he spend the evening?
If I was younger I would have said Van Gogh, because he was a big inspiration for me, and I still love him. However after working on the animated film Loving Vincent, I read a lot more about him and rightly or wrongly, I feel I know and understand him. So I think if you ask me today, I would invite Bosch because for me he is a real mystery and and would ask him to explain the symbols he used in his paintings. Hard to imagine how to spend the evening with someone from 500 years ago! Eating and chatting I guess. And in the future, maybe it’s another artist - who knows.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
