Today we’d like to introduce you to Ara-Lucia.
Ara-Lucia, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
As I was growing up I caught glimpses of high fashion in magazines, but clothes for personal expression were inaccessible to me. My fascination with fashion persists to this day. My undergraduate degree was interdisciplinary. I’ve worked in a range of creative fields: dancing, choreography, acting, photography and art direction.
In 2000 I became gravely ill. The resulting series of surgeries left my body permanently disfigured—my back covered with scar tissue and my abdomen distended with no muscles left to support it. All the work I once did that incorporated movement wasn’t an option for me anymore.
I had dreamed of being an abstract painter but didn’t know how the ideas and themes that I had explored in my previous work could be translated to painting. Then, one day, while drawing a still life, a book of Victorian paper dolls caught my eye. I realized since I often used dresses as a launching point for my previous work, this was the doorway I was seeking into painting. Once I began, I felt I found my artistic voice.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I begin my painting process by gathering images from fashion books, from a range of different designers and time periods. Then I use pattern paper to texture the surface of the canvas, followed by an impasto technique as I continue with layers of thick paint.
The work winds up being very energetic, with deep ridges and creamy mounds of paint. In some pieces I amplify the texture by painting my body and pressing it onto the canvas. Recently, I have introduced a narrative element by using snippets of love letters between women. With these elements I explore the body, identity and intimacy.
People often ask if this is my “blue phase.” My passion for the color blue began with a pair of navy blue shoes in second grade. I had to have those shoes! And there was other special garment in blue; my prom dress and even my wedding dress was a deep blue. My first painting was black, white and grey. When it was complete I put in three of the tiniest blue lines. I thought to myself, “What if the next painting is all blue? Why not embrace it?” I haven’t turned back since.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
Follow your curiosity. Everything you are interested in is legitimate content. Release attachment to proper technique. Allow your own way of making work to develop. It is okay to create the “same” work over and over. If you work with a deep commitment to the materials or ideas you are exploring your authentic voice will evolve.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I have shown my work in four different group shows and two solo shows in the last couple of years, but I don’t have a show on the calendar right now. The best way to find out about my next exhibition is to sign up for my mailing list on Facebook or email me to ask about upcoming shows.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/ara-lucia
- Email: ara@aralucia.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aralucia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AraLuciaPage
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ara_lucia
Image Credit:
Photography by Doug McGoldrick
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