Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Luisa Halvorssen.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is Ana Luisa Halvorssen. For as long as I can remember, every detail of my life has orbited around art. I have always said I am a museum of everything I love, fitting for an Art History major, but overtime have come to find out that this collection I have curated throughout the trajectory of my life is not about the THINGS I love, but rather the wisdom I have picked up from being uncomfortable and alone in unfamiliar countries, the conversations I come to have with people I know and don’t, and applying my all and more into every project; each being dedicated to the female artists I grew up surrounded by that pushed me to pursue every endeavor and explore every curiosity.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not in the slightest! I had been going to art galleries and museums before I even grew teeth and had a fascination for art since my first memory of being taught Impressionism in kindergarten but the motivation to pursue it as a career did not spark until after I had transferred to my third college in less than 3 years. After International Business in Madrid, Business and Marketing in New York, being completely lost with a side of Psychology in Miami, a showing of Artemesia Gentileschi in a Humanities class (that I almost did not even take) did it for me.
I had been discouraged very early on from pursuing any art-related career because of the “struggle” misconception within the industry by my freshman year Spanish teacher who wished me a “good few years of starvation” after sharing with my entire class how I wanted to pursue a career in photography. That was my first hard punch among harder ones that followed including countless rejections, harsh critiques, truly humbling experiences, etc. Thankfully, I had a huge authority issue and did not listen to her- did it my way and never looked back.
Embracing my love for art, something that literally runs through my veins, has opened doors I never thought possible. I have traveled the world accompanied by my camera, offered jobs in wonderful galleries, took my hunger for education to Sotheby’s, worked alongside incredible photographers, all because I had dreams no one was or will ever distract me from.
Finding my way through an uncertain and bumpy tunnel with no guaranteed foreseeable success has been a ride I would take time and time again. It is not just about the beauty behind it but the importance in failing and learning to get up each time stronger than you were before. I am nowhere near where I want to be just yet; but my best advice- have dreams and be stubborn about them. Work hard, learn, and accept. Put yourself in uncomfortable situations. Move far away from what you know over and over again. Open your heart. Start over a million times. Maintain an insatiable hunger for knowledge.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I began working at a young age- mostly because I wanted my own money to bleach my brown hair blonde. I instantly fell in love with working and busy-work tasks which later led me to work numerous different jobs from nonprofits in Oslo, Norway to art consulting internships in Manhattan. The list goes on let’s just say I have dipped each one of my ten toes and a few fingers while playing distinct roles- my favorite one being the assistant to a photographer who later turned into my mentor and a very dear friend whom I went to shoot a wedding in the South of France with which catapulted me into assisting various talented photographers.
I am currently still studying towards a bachelors in Art History. I just got back from completing a “Global Art Market” course with Sotheby’s Institute of Art in the UK. I had the most amazing time that it did not last two minutes before sobbing on the floor once I got home- I was inconsolable grieving what has been the most wonderful time filled with spectacular food, people, adventures, etc. Before leaving to England, I had spent several months leading up to my endeavor interning at an art gallery in Miami where I had the pleasure of learning so much under an amazing group of people which I am now able to apply towards my new internship at another art gallery, also in Miami.
In between working for my parent’s company, interning at art galleries, and assisting photographers, and writing dissertations on my current hyper-fixation, I have spent months interviewing other world-travelers and community-leaders across Europe and Miami, listening to their stories and all of the lessons they have learned along the way for my own journalistic reasons. When I was asked to be interviewed, it was such a full circle moment. Funny enough, you would think that a person who has no choice but to become a good interviewer after sitting down to interrogate a number to different people about their lives would be a good interviewee, but I genuinely did not even know where to begin in explaining who I am, what I have done, and what I currently do.
What makes me most proud of myself is my insatiable hunger for knowledge. I am the type of person that gets so hyper fixated and infatuated with history and facts. I love to learn and I love to be around people that know more than I do. I love to be proven wrong, especially because of the level of research I conduct when I am obsessed on a certain topic. I am currently working on learning new languages in hopes to erase little by little any language barrier that could creep up on me. I am also very proud of the vigor and determination I apply to everything I love- to my work, my writing, etc. I try to put 110% to everything I participate in, regardless if success is not guaranteed.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I have learned along my journey is not to reject or avoid discomfort, but to embrace it. As I mentioned before, it took me three different schools and several different career paths until I realized what I truly wanted to devote myself to. I have moved to different countries and cities, failed time and time again in between majors, let myself be wrong, all while being so ill with discomfort but it was only with being uncomfortable did I realize that that’s the greatest source of growth. Every new opportunity be it a new job or change in zip code, it was me stepping into something entirely unfamiliar to me. You wont ever walk into the same place twice. In my case, going from gallery to gallery, one is very quick to believe that you know everything but every place is different and it shows you how little you really know- how much there is for you to learn and grow.
I used to think confidence came before opportunity, now I think it’s the opposite. You gain confidence by repeatedly putting yourself in situations where you’re uncomfortable, learning, failing, asking questions, and realizing you’re capable of more than you thought. Which is probably why I love to learn so much. I don’t enjoy being the smartest person in the room as much as I enjoy being someone who leaves that same room with more knowledge than I did when I first entered.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.studioluchi.art
- Instagram: @luchihalv and @dcec___
