Interview
Stefano Guseli
As an artist, Stefano enjoys exploring contemporary issues - which he finds stimulating. He has always created art and have found it comes naturally to him. In 2003, Stefano attended art college and he learnt how to hone visual techniques during his diploma of Visual Art. In 2007, he embarked upon a Visual art degree and practiced a more theoretical approach to art making and he developed a mind for the conceptual approach. Since 2011, Stefano has been a part-time secondary educator and he has been exhibiting since 2020. He has enjoyed sharing his creative exploits through exhibitions and his fluid, living website which is sometimes an artwork in itself, especially the experimental pages.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I attended Art school between 2003 and 2008. I obtained a diploma in Visual Arts and a bachelor's degree in Visual Art. I developed the mediums of printmaking, sculpture, animation and video art.”
What inspires you?
“I get inspired by current events and topical issues people are talking about.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I have looked at the nature of art in the 21st-century in light of 20th-century movements and ideologies. Last year, I developed an exhibition about artificial intelligence. I used motherhood as a key reflective tool to juxtapose AI with. In my artistic practice, I use oil painting in an expressive style and animations. Through my work, I aim to highlight the nurturing aspect of mothers comparing it to the digital realm, of AI which coldly spawns ones and zeros. By using bright colours and textural brushstrokes, I seek to draw the viewer into the world of the maternal. Inspiration for my art comes from my own experiences as a child, my observations of nurturing mothers and general opinions that people hold about mothers I also had a Commodore 64 which was several dimensions away from the AI of today. Still, it was a digital connection I had while growing up. I am particularly drawn to the variations of mothers within the world. The mother's gaze is prevalent in the work, and as the viewer connects with the eyes of the mother in the artwork the question may arise, who is watching who?
Artificial Intelligence may well be a surrogate mother for humanity which could give birth to a digital intellectual elite. What will happen to the organic and educated? I am deeply interested in organic and inorganic and their interdependence and independent opposition in the context of the nurturing mother. Once AI starts producing its own will it have any need for the nurturing mother type in the digital realm? Will the nurturing mother become obsolete, or will it go on through mimicry and digital recreations? Can AI survive without becoming "virtually human" and embracing the maternal? In terms of technique, I employ modernist, 20th-century expressionist painting techniques and a melding with twenty-first century post-modern painting and animation by importing photos of the artwork into an animation program and then finalising it in a post-production video editing program. I use a bright colour pallet to highlight the energy of maternity. Voiceovers from various backgrounds highlighted by different accents complement the animations to communicate the dialogue. The artwork encourages the viewer to think about the human implications of AI on a maternal level and the implications on our future and humanity. Is the AI experience going to complement humankind like a digital midwife? Or is AI going to take us down a track of maternal and social isolation? Time will tell. In conclusion, this artwork is a thought-provoking process on what makes us human. Will Artificial Intelligence become an alternate intelligence? Will it be able to harness a digital maternity as it were? Or will it be the greatest invention contrived by humans since the wheel?”
How would you describe your work?
“My work is an experiment both practically and theoretically. I blend semi-abstract paintings with video art to convey specific messages to the viewer.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Picasso, Matisse, Marcel Duchamp, John Smith (The Black Tower - 1987).”
“By using bright colours and textural brushstrokes, I seek to draw the viewer into the world of the maternal.”
What is your creative process like?
“First, I research a topic and form some notes. Then I start creating. As I create the artwork, I continue to research the theme.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“The artist is an informative entertainer.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“My recent exhibitions include: WHERE ROADS LEAD - GATAKERS (2020); TWO ROADS ONE DESTINATION - LEWIS GALLERY (2021); DESTINATION? - LEWIS GALLERY (2021); VIRTUAL EXHIBITION - BECAUSE - ONLINE (2022); TWO WHO ARE BOUND ARE UNBOUNDED, FREE - MRAS (2023); MOTHER OF INORGANIC INTELLIGENCE – MRAS - (2024); and I have an upcoming one: CULTURAL DIVERSITY ON THE AUSTRALIAN CONTINENT – GATAKERS - AUGUST 2024.”
Website: www.stefanoguseli.net
