Interview
Vanessa Poutou
For Vanessa, art is an attempt to give form to her inner visions and reflections. It is the way she translates the emotions evoked by a poem, a sound, or a fleeting glance - moments that leave a trace within her. Vanessa doesn’t paint people as individual figures, but as symbols of their inner landscapes. Through abstraction, light, and layers of color, she tries to capture the fragile balance between silence and emotion — that invisible movement that gives breath to our inner life. Her work is part of private collections in Europe, UK, Australia and US.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“My connection with painting has existed for as long as I can remember. Since childhood, painting has felt like a natural need — a way to communicate without words. I was always captivated by the power of drawing and, even more, by the power of color. I studied and worked for several years as a designer and later as an art director, but gradually I felt that my creative self was yearning for something more inward, more personal. So, I decided to dedicate myself entirely to painting. For the past twelve years, I have been working as a professional artist, seeking my own language of expression.”
What does your work aim to say? Does it comment on any current social or political issues?
“My work focuses primarily on the emotional world and the forces that shape us. I don’t paint people as individual figures, but as symbols of their inner landscapes. I am drawn to the psychological undercurrents — passion, loneliness, repressed dreams, fragility, and the hidden layers of our existence. In our time, I feel that people experience personal and collective sorrow more intensely; they often appear detached, apathetic, more alone than in the past. I often wonder: what is it that makes the soul stand tall, resist conventions, and reclaim its vitality? For me, the emotional world is deeply intertwined with the social one — because every collective change begins within the personal. For example, the emancipation of women was born first from the inner desire for self-determination, freedom, and strength. This dynamic — the power that remains within us, sometimes repressed and sometimes contradictory — is what I seek to express in my work. Through abstract brushstrokes and layers of color, I try to capture — as I feel it — ‘that something’ which is in constant flux, giving breath and movement to our inner life.”
Do you plan your work in advance, or is it improvisation?
“I usually begin with a face, a gesture, or a deep, melancholic gaze — even if I know that later I may erase or transform it. That initial image acts as a starting point, a thread that leads inward, toward a luminous or shadowed interior window. As I work, I let myself be carried away; I follow a brushstroke, a spontaneous movement that takes me elsewhere. It’s a physical, almost instinctive process — sometimes destructive, other times utterly liberating.”
What process, materials and techniques do you use to create your artwork?
“For the past eight years, I have been working exclusively with oil paint. I use acrylics only as an underpainting, but the essential process unfolds entirely in oil. I am drawn to its transparency, its slow drying time, and its temperamental, almost living nature. Oil allows me to build layers of light and shadow — as if gradually unfolding the inner space of the painting.”
“My work focuses primarily on the emotional world and the forces that shape us. I don’t paint people as individual figures, but as symbols of their inner landscapes.”
What does your art mean to you?
“Art, for me, is the attempt to give form to my inner visions and reflections. It is the way I translate the deep emotions evoked by a poem, the force of a sound, or the glances and feelings that have marked me. It is something that soothes me — yet also compels me to revisit my wounds.”
What’s your favourite artwork and why?
“My favorite painting is Young Woman with a Pearl Necklace by Johannes Vermeer. I am deeply moved by the way light and shadow blend so poetically within it. The atmosphere is profoundly evocative — you can almost feel the silence and the sensitivity emerging through the girl’s eyes and hands.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“Every exhibition is a new encounter, a dialogue between myself and the viewer. Yet I remember my first solo exhibition with special emotion — it was the first time I saw my works ‘speak’ outside the studio, taking on a life of their own in the space. Some of my group exhibitions have also been defining moments — times when I felt how universal human sensitivity can be, beyond language or geography. Those moments confirmed for me that when art is honest, it always finds its way to another soul.”
