Interview

What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?

“After graduating from high school, I decided to pursue professional dance training while also improving my drawing, painting, and writing skills. After sustaining multiples injuries, I took it as a sign to reconnect with my inner self, so I began focusing on my art and healing my body. As my body recovered slowly, and my writing and drawing kept getting better, I finally felt like myself for the first time in many years.
As far as I can remember, I’ve always loved drawing. I drew everyday on everything except walls, testing colors, textures, and materials. With writing, it was compulsive, like magic. Being able to write whatever came out of my imagination was fantastic for me because as a child, words on paper would stay forever. I wanted to tell my stories before I even knew how to read and write, so my tales looked like doodles on paper.
As a dancer, I’ve been involved in multiple projects. As a teen artist, I had my very first real exhibit in a children’s hospital. As an author, I recently published my own first novel. I wanted to make it, so I chose to do everything myself. I didn’t want to have to wait for approval from people I might never meet. I had a vision, so I made this vision a reality.
Throughout my childhood, all types of art distracted me from reality, which was hard then, and still is even today.”

What inspires you most?

“I’ve always felt a gap between my peers and myself, like they didn’t understand me. Growing up, I was the only dyslexic child in my school, and on top of that, I was the only one who didn’t want to pursue a ‘typical’ path. This state of loneliness has transformed into solitude. It has been an opportunity to fully know myself; to extend my curiosity without limits and take the necessary step back that an artist/writer needs. So my inspirations come from everywhere: society, science, books, nature, philosophy, history, old legends, movies, archaeology, and so much more.”

What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?

“There are many themes in my work. Some are slightly closer to my heart, like women’s rights, discrimination in all its forms, and the climate.
There is always an underlying message in all my creations. Some of it is very visible, even though I never tell the viewer what to see. I give clues and then step back and let the message and the viewer make a bridge between themselves, to have their own discussion. I truly believe in the capacity of everyone to learn, understand and evolve. If I force my own message, the person can’t see what echoes within them; can’t see what they’re supposed to see. Each person sees my work as new, and that’s beautiful, in my opinion.”

How would you describe your work?

“The only thing I know for certain is that my work looks like me, and it grew up with me. So through the years, it has been evolving and improving. My work is also never perfect, which can be very frustrating. But ultimately, this imperfection makes my writing and drawing look even more like me, even more real. There’s a memory in them!”

“I truly believe that a bond exists between my inspirations, my personal experiences, and my dyslexia.
I’ve always been the outsider, the different one, the child who was interested in art, who was seeing things differently; the student that teachers didn’t believe in.”

Which artists influence you most?

“I love a variety of artists from many fields: Frida Kahlo, Jérôme Bosch, G. Klimt, Salvador Dalí, Sever Frențiu, Banksy, Tim Burton, Alexandre Astier, Guillermo del Toro, James Cameron, Louis de Funès, George Lucas, Tanabe Gou, Chas Addams, Tolkien, Peter Jackson, Coco Chanel, Agnes Obel, and so many others.”

What is your creative process like?

“For the writing, I would say it’s a little bit like I’m living with my characters until the state of grammatical corrections. The preliminary ideas come into my dreams from floating thoughts, from an aesthetic, or a longing to say something. I make space for this first idea to cook in my mind, letting the characters live. I let the imaginary world build itself and let the message become more understandable. During this time, I take lots of notes. Once I have a clear idea of the beginning, I start to hand write everything. After that, I rewrite page by page on my computer. If something doesn’t please me or I feel it doesn’t fit the story anymore, I make the necessary changes.
The process for my artwork is sort of similar to the way I start writing. It starts with an idea that I let live in my mind, and I imagine the piece in its entire form. I visualize every possibility, every detail, material and possibility. After this, I do lots of sketches. Once I’m more or less sure of what I want to do, I start on the foundation of the final canvas.”

What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?

“To answer this, I think we should go back in time. Way before this era, an artist’s main role in society was to entertain adults and children, but also to inform them of the latest news. Artists have been closer to people in charge, so over time, their role changed as society changed. Their work became revolutionary, religious, satirical, all the while keeping it entertaining. We can see these changes in museums.
Nowadays, with new technologies and new problems in our society, artists can be a little overwhelmed since our role has so many facets. However, each artist can decide which facet he wants to show. Showing hidden truths and ugly issues is a reality that can be invisible for some people because it’s too far away from them, and so they choose to just entertain the public.
Artists have another often-forgotten role, which is to crystallize periods of time in their work. Future generations will look at these works and go back in time. We’re doing it ourselves. Artists are witnesses of their time period, such as the amount of artwork archeologists have found from ancient Egypt.
Our creative process may change in the future, but we will always make people dream with open eyes, become memory tools, uncover the truth, and bring about the search for meaning and knowledge.”

Please tell us about any previous exhibitions you found noteworthy and wish to share.

“Instead of exhibitions, I’d like to share the summary of my book:
‘What if our world was not what we’ve known for so long, a legend is recounted in the oldest book ever made. The Primera! As no one thought it could happen or could be real, everything changed with her birth. The child, the heir, a new supernatural force: Séramaria. Just a few creatures knew that the legend was not anymore. Some were happier than ever, others already afraid of her, and Warwick. Warwick... the one willing to do anything to get her. Born among us in Noolia, in our world separated from the other world, Ufaria by an invisible, powerful barrier. Us humans, knowing nothing about this entire world, not knowing our bounded history, being sure of the non existence of magical creatures around us. Ufaria’s people knowing everything about us, being embodies of our forgotten myths and legends, not hesitating to intervene in our lives if they judged it necessary. However, for now most of them do not know about Séramaria. Sadly, even her family. Now, a terrible chess game has begun, which side will the creatures and humans from both worlds choose? What will Warwick do? How will Séramaria's family handle her power, her fate?’
The book is on Amazon, Fnac, Kobo, Cultura, Google Play, and more. All the links are on my Instagram. For any who wish to purchase my artwork, they can contact me on Instagram too.”