Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Aranda.
Hi Laura, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I’m a visual artist from Mexico City, specialized in painting in various mediums. I studied architecture, but soon after, I realized that it wasn’t really for me. I started taking drawing, painting, and art history courses independently while maintaining a full-time job to support my art production. After a few years of producing art on my own, I joined another women artists and created an art collective named “A Room of One’s Own”. Here we produce pieces for art projects withing the collective while bringing light to other contemporary female artists through exhibitions and interviews. With the outbreak of the pandemic and all the exhibitions cancelled, I started teaching online watercolor workshops. As more and more people became interested, I began doing them regularly, adding different subjects and difficulty levels. Next, I added painting to my workshop catalogue. Lastly, I created nature art experiences, where I merged my favorite things to create a unique experience that blends an art workshop in nature and a picnic with wine and tapas. My personal art production has also evolved during the years, currently, I’m focusing on creating pieces that are situated between abstraction and figuration, regularly using the human body as a starting point. For these paintings, I’ve loved using various media such as charcoal, encaustic, and oil to create a highly expressive and gestural piece.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have encountered many obstacles along the way. First, there was no market I knew for what I offered, so I had to start by creating it first with friends, family, and acquaintances and then moving to social media. Selling original artworks has also been very challenging, especially with individuals and societies still recovering from the aftermath of the pandemic, so I am still struggling with that one. Access to exhibition spaces to show and promote my work is also quite daring, hopefully, the art world is moving towards a more inclusive and open environment.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a visual artist specialized in painting in varius mediums and supports. The subjects I draw inspiration from are also diverse. I am interested in the subconcious, for many years, I have kept a journal where I document my dreams and mainly my nightmares, I like going back and reading them after years to relive them and paint them. I am also inspired by the human body and how much can I distort, twist, and exaggerate a figure without losing its essence.
Another subject that captivates me is portraiture, I focus on painting elders, I love the expressiveness that wrinkles give to a face and de melancholy, nostalgia, and wisdom I find in their eyes. It is also a way of confronting my own fear of getting old.
Apart from my personal production, I’m an art teacher and coach, focusing on watercolor workshops and art and nature experiences.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was a very shy and introverted girl growing up, a believe drawing and painting was a refuge for me. I would spend hours on end in my room just drawing and coloring. I also loved exploring nature, when I was little, I wanted to be an archeologist to discover the world. I believe a have maintained those interests to present day to share them with everyone.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraaranda_art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauraarandapaintings
- Other: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/laura-aranda
