Interview
Zael (Elsa Gomes)
Elsa Gomes is better known in the art world as Zael. She is an amateur artist and psychometrician. By the time she came to the end of her psychomotricity studies, she discovered they had started to influence her paintings.
She painted women’s bodies that questioned society’s view of the female body.
Zael uses oil, acrylic or watercolor paint to express her feelings, her dreams, and what she gets from poems.
The phrase that best represents her is: Poetry does not need rhymes to exist. It exists in the soul of those who contemplate the world, nature, the night, the sun, the sea, and childhood.
Zael has participated in two ExpoMetro group shows in Paris and New York.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I was born in 1991 in Champigny sur Marne near Paris. My parents enrolled me in dance, music and visual arts classes from a very young age. I still have a good memory of my first art teacher. She guided me and let me express myself freely. I haven’t come across any other teacher like her.
I started studying psychomotricity, and it is after these studies that I started painting again. In connection with my studies, I began my first oil painting which depicted women’s headless bodies. After this piece, I had this need to paint incessantly, switching styles according to my desires and inspiration. I also started to paint images of certain dreams.
My colleagues and friends enjoy my paintings, and it is something I like sharing it with them.”
What inspires you most?
“I’m inspired by poetry, and by my dreams, feelings, and desires. I also paint from photographs, but this exercise bores me a little.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“The themes in my work are mostly symbolic and I represent them through nature, animals, and the night - which is a great source of my inspiration.
The message I want to transmit through my paintings is that everyone can express ideas—even though, like me, they’re not a professional artist—and that these ideas are equally important. It is therefore a humanistic message that I transmit through my paintings.”
“When I paint, I always associate the work with poetry and a sentence that is very close to my heart: ‘I always wanted to paint the night so my brush did it for me.”
How would you describe your work?
“I’m still looking for a unique style, like everyone else. My best friend from childhood said to me, ‘All these styles are you, and we can see your investment in each painting.’
My style is a bit like my life. It follows the course of my life, my feelings, and the events of a 31-year-old woman.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I really like artists who wear several hats, like that of a poet and painter. Specifically, I like Tahar Ben Jelloun and Zao Wou-Ki. These are artists who when you look at their paintings, you know immediately what they want to talk about. It’s spontaneous.
I also like Vincent Van Gogh very much. Thanks to him, I dared one day to put golden yellow on a painting representing the sea.”
What is your creative process like?
“My creative process starts with a feeling, poem, image, or even an image of a dream I had the previous night. It’s quite spontaneous. I make a sketch and then I paint, leaving room for possible surprises in the watercolor or other paintings.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“An artist is a poetic messenger of the world. He sends his message through his work. Even if the message is political, it remains poetic and allows us to have a different perspective of the subject.
An artist brings a different angle to a situation, and he invites the spectator to question his own interpretation.”
Instagram: @zaelatelier
