As a visual artist, is there a certain approach, a style that you lean on?
My approach is not based to a certain process. Usually something affects me or I am thinking of something, or I am in a certain kind of state with which I just experiment with, either when I start a collage, I take a photo or draw. My inspirations are new landscapes I visit, my friends or new people I meet, stuff I find in the street or in casual places and they have interesting texture or colours.
Could you tell us something about your latest work? What is the focus, the ideal behind your latest work?
My latest work is about looking closely qualities of lust and flesh. I am trying to depict bodies when something happens to them, when fusion with other bodies is making a complex situation where different particles cannot be distinguished, where the concepts of beauty, filth and body are being reappropriated to show that beauty coexists with filth and that body can perform in many ways.
How long did it take to define your way of narrating a story?
I don’t have a certain way of narrating a story. Every project is unique and I don’t know a priori how it will evolve. In general, I make up stories and write poems since I was a kid maybe
because I read a lot of books. Even though my memory is not good at all and that is why I don’t remember anything from the books I have read, I think this practice just created for me something like a mental map of stories full of feelings and situations. Influences are very important for anyone who wants to be do art.
Feminism in visual arts - how can we tackle this subject to provoke change towards liberation?
This issue is very complex and I don’t have the answer. I think art is a very powerful medium that arises questions and feelings, that makes us see in a way that questions the constructed
knowledge. Generally I am not concerned only about feminism and gender based issues, but also about all kinds of discriminations, like the persecution of natives away from their land, animal abuse, ravaging of animal and other species, about onesself disposition regarding their
body. I am not optimist at all about society and how it handles all these issues. I think art is not enough to encounter them but is very powerful because it can empower people to act.
Each one that wants to provoke towards liberation has to act in their way, in their everyday life practices, without fear; even if they provoke a small change.
Any advice for artists just beginning their journey?
Everyone is different so there is not one way to start ones journey. What helps me being creative is exploring what makes me feel alive, what makes me want to play or to experiment with. This makes me cultivate my own kind of art and give space to my own concerns around
topics. And also, being exposed helps me to meet new people and have new influences, experiences and possibilities. I believe art is totally connected with ones everyday life and practices so I try to live truly regarding my own beliefs and way of being, as much as I can.
Author: Hana Tiro