Twelve months ago I stumbled upon the work of Gabriella Soraci.
Recently I decided to ask the artist about her images, and the story behind one
of her little paintings in particular.
Hi Gabriella, please tell us a bit about yourself and your environment.
I live in Eugene, Oregon, it’s a small town nestled between the Cascade mountain range and the rugged Oregon coastline. The area is known for its easy-going lifestyle. I have lived here most of my life. In addition to my own studio practice
I teach painting and drawing at the University of Oregon and at Lane Community College, both in Eugene. My husband Michael is a building designer and we have
a one-year-old daughter, Francesca.
What about your art background?
It definitely reaches back to early childhood. I was always drawing, and reading.
My sister and I attended a Waldorf school where arts, crafts, and storytelling are incorporated into daily learning in all subjects. Later on in college (Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Oregon, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California at Davis), I approached the study of fine art in a more serious way. I have always been a huge reader, so in college the choice of what to study was between studio arts, and something else like creative writing or English. Ultimately the studio won out. There is just nothing better than the feeling you get when you are deep into the creative process. Time moves differently. Petty concerns vanish. I knew that in the studio I could combine all of my interests and continue learning for the rest of my life.
So what books did you enjoy in childhood?
I was always reading, one book after another. I loved, and still love, the
Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L’Engle, and many of her other books.
Painting of My Rainbow Painting (2008)
I love your little canvas, Painting of my Rainbow Painting, it appears to fuse landscape, mindscape and still life. What led you to paint it?
The year before making Painting of my Rainbow Painting, I made a dramatic change in my process, from working abstractly from the imagination to working perceptually with simple still life items. The little watercolor painting seemed like a bridge between the two. I actually love the way you describe it – fusing landscape, mindscape, and still life. I think that is something I strive for and that my most successful paintings accomplish, so thank you! I made another attempt at incorporating the Rainbow Painting two years ago. I placed the watercolor behind a jam jar, partially refracting the image through the glass. I might use it again some day, since its symbolism continues to broaden for me over time.
Jar and Rainbow on Table (2010)
Can you tell us more about the Rainbow watercolor image?
My parents met at a spiritual community called Findhorn in Northern Scotland, where I was born in 1979. A fellow community member was the artist Bob Knox, who would go on to a successful career as an illustrator and painter. The original “Rainbow Painting,” as I call it, is a small watercolor made by Bob and given to my parents as a gift after I was born. I have always had the painting with me, either in my bedroom growing up, or in my studio, and now in my daughter’s bedroom.
That magical little watercolor certainly represents something about my childhood experience, and since it has always been with me, has most likely influenced my artistic sensibility as well. As an adult, I suppose the painting also acts as a symbol, reminding me of the dreams and utopian ideals for the future that my parents, and many of their generation had in the late 1960’s and 70’s. For some, those ideals are still alive and kicking, but there is no doubt that as a culture many of those dreams have not come to pass. In that sense, the painting is bittersweet, a marker of personal and collective history.
Sometimes your subject is a cup or simple box, other times you make
mini-constructions from everyday objects the subject. Books are stacked in a triangle, or a piece of paper is taped to a window, folded maps become little sculptures.
Well, other than the personal relationship with the Rainbow Painting, I mostly use objects that are not sentimental and have come across them somewhere in a different context. I spend a lot of time moving things around, playing with possible combinations, and looking at the resulting arrangement. I’m attracted to simple geometric shapes – squares, circles, and triangles – and find myself building these shapes with different materials.
What is currently inspiring you?
I am focused on my daughter most of the time while continuing to teach, so studio time is limited. When I do get a small chunk of time I am drawing classic subjects like apples and flowers, or the view out my studio windows to get warmed up again. I have made hundreds of drawings over the years in the “down time” between my more intense painting periods. For me painting is a slow craft, but it is one I am prepared to spend a lifetime at.
rs
Gabriella’s website and Etsy store
Folded Map II (2008)
Black Paper in Window (2008)
bakersmith 