Paris, Thursday, March 17, 2011
La Valse des Monstres – Yann Tiersen
Aurelia Garay
When we first met her at Rosa Bonheur in her jeans with holes in them and her breasts a little too bare, listening to her talk about herself and her voice with its – just the right amount of – Peruvian accent, watching her smile as she moved to the music like some kind of “incandescent poetry”, we said to ourselves: well, well, this girl’s got spirit. And that was before I dared to take a look at her drawings (which she presents – of course – as simple doodles). Of course.
Elisa Palmer / How long have you been drawing?
Aurelia Garay / I’ve always drawn. When my brother and I were kids (aged 5 or 6), Mum used to say to us every day: “When I get home from work, you’ve got to have drawn at least one picture”. One drawing a day and I never stopped. Haha, I remember… In kindergarten, my classmates would jostle each other to ask me to draw them a picture so they could color it in later. It was wonderful for me. I wanted to keep going and never stop.
EP / I have the feeling that human beings are your main inspiration? Is this true? If so, how can you explain this enthusiasm?
AG / YEP. The human being is my main inspiration, but above all what’s hidden inside. His fears, his imagination, his nostalgia. These are the themes I tackle in my work. I also like, just for fun, to take up clichés: … drawing what might represent for me the “bad-boy”, “the whore”, “the geek”, etc…. I also like to create my own beings. I get a kick out of making them grimace, twisting their bodies or coloring them green, yellow or blue.
EP / You draw. You make sculptures. Do you also practice any other art?
AG / I also paint and engrave. It’s something I really enjoy. I love to do graphic design too, with my palette on the computer, photography and photomontage.
EP / Have you exhibited your work in the past? If so, in which cities and in which settings?
AG / Aiiiiiiiiiiie Elisa. I’m just getting started… I’ve only exhibited twice in my life. Once at my high school, after I graduated. An exhibition I did with all my work on the subject of fear and imagination. And once at the CORRIENTE ALTERNA art school in Peru. Just one painting. But I was happy.
EP / How important is color in your drawings?
AG / Color and I are a never-ending story. It’s hard! Sometimes I can get used to it and tell myself that a drawing is finished, without color, just as it is. But otherwise, I don’t know, I think it’s something inside me. All my drawings have a lot of color. I like to play with content and form: the fact that I draw monsters and repulsive things, all mixed with beautiful colors, very warm and cheerful. I find it creates a harmony… A strange harmony, but mine.
EP / How do you start a drawing?
AG / Characters always through the right eye. The portrait always by the character. The rest I don’t know.
Elisa Palmer
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