Today we’d like to introduce you to Marina Gonella.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born in Chicago from Argentinian parents and move to Argentina at the age of five. I spend most of my life there and came back to the US 16 years ago. I think my passion for art started when I was a young girl, I used to spend a lot of time building stuff in my grandparents’ workshop. That later took me to drawing and painting. I studied art in Buenos Aires at Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredon. I also took classes in drawing, painting, and printmaking at the studio of several professors. After graduating, I opened a studio with my friends where we worked, gave classes and special workshops.
The economical political and social situation in Argentina brought me here. I moved with my husband and my daughter and started all over. After a few years and before having my son, I found myself working as an artist full time. At the beginning, I had my studio in my home in Weston and later I move my studio to The Bakehouse, Artcenter South Florida and now I’m currently at The Laundromat Art Space in Little Haiti. All these years have gave me the opportunity to participate in several exhibitions, gain exposure and be part of the growing art scene in Miami. I’m also honored to have work included in national and international, private and corporate collections.
Has it been a smooth road?
It is not always easy being an artist and having the strength to continue no matter what. There are always a lot of challenges and I try to take them one at a time. The great part of this is that you get to do what you like. There are some days where even if you are in the studio the whole day, you don’t feel the tiredness. You feel accomplished.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am a mixed media visual artist. I work with collage, acrylic, and transfers of pictures that I take. I have been working with images of places for a while now. I think that the place where we live conditions our acts, thoughts, and way of life. Whatever surrounds us modifies our behavior. We change according to where we are and what we experience. My work is about the place where we live, and the relationship that this has to our identity. I mostly work with landscapes of South Florida, regular places that I transit everyday, and set them over organic collages and abstract backgrounds.
We always love to ask about the support network – have there been people, perhaps mentors or advisors, who have played a big role in your success?
There are always people that give you a hand along the road, but mostly is the support of my family and my hard work that helps me achieve my goals.
Contact Info:
- Address: Studio
5900 NE 2nd Ave
Miami, 33137 - Website: Marinagonella.com
- Phone: 754-366-0828
- Email: gonellamarina@gmail.com
- Instagram: @marinagonella
- Facebook: marinagonella.visualartist
Image Credit:
Marina Gonella
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