Today we’d like to introduce you to Marianela Pérez.
Hi Marianela, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I am a Venezuelan visual artist; my practice has evolved through painting, photography, and digital art. From a very young age, I developed a strong inclination for colors, a topic that becomes primal in my artwork. I studied Commercial Art at Endicott College, Massachusetts, and Environmental Design at the Villasmil de Leon Design Institute in Caracas Venezuela. After moving to Miami in 2017, I focused my interest on abstract geometric languages, which I use as a way of perceiving, thinking, and interpreting reality, taking advantage of elements of subjectivity and memory. Subsequently, I studied painting under the guidance of renowned artists as well as specialized courses in painting and techniques applied to acrylic at The Boca Raton Museum Art School.
I was also trained in photography at the Roberto Mata School of photography in Caracas (RMTF). Since then, photography became a pivoting element throughout my work, even supporting the geometric expressions in my current paintings.
My exhibition activities began in 2001 but intensified in 2009, a period during which I presented solo, and group shows in galleries and art institutions in Venezuela, the United States, and Europe. Likewise, I have carried out artistic interventions in public and private spaces.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitively not been a smooth road. There were obstacles along the way which helped make me stronger as I encountered them. Being an artist is not easy; it is a boundless, exhausting journey, including many sleepless nights. But it is a challenge that is so worth enduring. The most important thing is to believe in what I am doing and to follow my own lines of inquiry. Daily work, dedication, perseverance, and study are key values to help me thrive. Progressively new paths are discovered and cleared. I constantly insist and never give up.
In the field of geometric abstraction, it is not easy to be receptive since it is mistakenly thought of it is a language that articulates with few, limited elements. But that is nothing further from my reality. Geometric abstraction is an infinite language in which I thrive expressing myself in my own way.
My intention has been to grow as an artist and show my creativity.
Growing up in my home country has had a monumental influence on my artwork, one that deals with changes, rupture, color, and memory.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My work has a lot to do with emotions, changes, memory, ruptures, and the interpretation of my environment. I work from the fracture of the form in space and the use of color as an expressive resource. My artistic evolution goes from the gestural painting of spots and colors to my digital work through the integration of photography as a reference to capture images of every day, the urban landscape, and nature.
I draw, paint, photograph, and transform. Sometimes an idea leads to an image and other times a new image can emerge that modifies the work. In this process, I discover the freedom to express what I propose. I use the concept of fracture to break down and transform but simultaneously create a composition in a harmony of lines, producing a chromatic burst. It’s like putting together the pieces of a puzzle in bold and vivid colors that I take on as a creative challenge.
In my day-to-day as an artist in the studio, different interests arise but the main idea is always present, even though I use different media such as collages, and paper sculptures, as well as digital and pictorial creations. Everything is articulated with the same purpose: the fragmentation of space, shape, and color.
The use of color in my work is related to the moment, but the form preserves traces of emotions and memories that help me sustain the experience of color. It is possible that when I am creating defense mechanisms are lowered and the unconscious becomes tangible, allowing light to be found in various situations. What I do is transform and break down the elements to give another reading since there is an aesthetic need in me to change everything that captures my vision of the environment.
I want to transmit and highlight emotions and moods that produce stability, enjoyment, or pleasure, recreating a less gray world, more colorful and open to the magic. Based on this idea, I try to make the experience of transforming reality last longer than the moment.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I see myself growing my skills in some other media, looking forward to learning more and captivating more people with my artwork. I will keep creating more and more art. Recreating a less grey world, more colorful and open to the magic. Based on this idea, I will try to make the experience of transforming reality last longer than the moment.
Contact info:
- Website: www.marianelaperezart.com
- Instagram: @marianelaperez_art
- Facebook: Marianelaperez_art
- Twitter: @marianelapart
Image Credits
Pedro Wassam
Marianela Pérez
