A few words about your artistic career
Before becoming a full-time abstract artist, I tried other art forms such as photography, but I found more peace in painting. Translating nature onto canvas became a way of translating my lived experience as a woman and as a human being.
How long have you been an artist?
After quitting my job in 2016, I used painting as an escape. It slowly became a way of expressing my everyday life.
Why did you apply for this scholarship? How will the scholarship support you?
I applied for the Africalia grant because the COVID-19 crisis has made life more difficult for everyone, but even more so for artists. We now have to worry more about paying our bills than creating art.
What are your concrete artistic objectives after this residency?
I'm keen to explore mediums other than acrylic paint.
What did you achieve during this creative residency? What is the result (work created)?
When I applied for this grant, I wanted to create seven paintings for the 'Colors Within' collection. I ended up creating nine works because I wanted to explore the colour blue in two more paintings.
During this residency I experimented with different mediums such as coloured pencils, soft pastels and oil pastels. I worked alone, in my home studio, but shared parts of the process and progress on social media.
How do you think these activities help us to think about the world today, in relation to the COVID-19 crisis, and/or about building for the future?
Colors Within addresses the theme of 'Here and Now'. The idea behind this collection of artworks was to draw inspiration from the present, where the COVID-19 crisis has complicated the basics of everyday life, particularly travel, social life and work. I believe that appreciating our immediate environment makes us more present and prepares us for the future.
How did you feel during the residency? And afterwards?
I felt good and motivated to create during the residency. The grant enabled me to finance the materials I needed to create the collection, and I used the other part to pay other bills.
As individual pieces and as a collection, the artworks I created during this residency pushed me to do more and better. I consider the collection an important milestone in my growth as an artist, because in addition to winning the Africalia grant, it has given me more courage to continue sharing my work beyond my social circles.
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