Tell us a few words about yourself. What does a typical day look like? Do you just do art, or is art just part of the picture?
Tell us about your artwork, medium, style, subject matter etc.
Geomara: My art is a mix of abstract, bold, colorful, sometimes structured, sometimes chaotic. I like to play with both ends. I am a walking oxymoron sometimes so that shows in my art from time to time. I love using lines because something about the lines makes me feel safe. I love working in acrylics, pens, and watercolors especially to create texture and play with color. I always have an idea of the subject iI want to work on but the result is always different in the sense that I like to get carried away by the moment that I’m painting. At the moment though, because of space issues, I’ve focused on making digital artwork, I often sketch on my iPad to play around with colors or templates before working on a real painting but lately, I’ve enjoyed working in Procreate. It is incredible for creating portraits and art since I don’t have much room to get messy.
You say your art helped you after moving to US from Ecuador, and it was your “happy place”. Tell us a bit more about that. And how much is your art still influenced by your homeplace and how much did it change since moving?
Geomara: Moving to the US was traumatic for me. Kids at school used to make fun of me because I didn’t speak English and my clothes were the same most of the time. It was harder because I understood English but could not speak it. Somehow I picked it up from the American movies and video games my dad used to send us to Ecuador. I was actually was mute during middle school and early high school. Speaking only when teachers talked to me but otherwise, I would only speak to my friends who spoke Spanish and I hid a lot. Like a wallflower. I tried not to draw any attention to myself. Art became the only way I could show and express the true inner me. My family was also unstable in the sense that my parents often fought with one another. I bumped heads with them in the sense I wanted to be free and they would try to hold me tighter in their grasp which led to really bad altercations with my father. I often had to be who they wanted and I used art as an outlet of my rage and feeling of powerlessness. I felt trapped and it was art that helped me find my own place, the only place I showed the true me, that I had a say in how things turned out.
My art changed in the sense that it’s become more bold and confident as I age. I am 30 now and I have embraced myself as a whole. My art was definitely influenced by Ecuador in the sense that I love painting landscapes and nature, it was all I painted for a while. However, my art now is bolder and more confident and feminine. I consider myself a very sexy and confident person now. This shows in my art whereas before I used to be less about the message and more about the emotions I felt. Some of my older landscapes were impressionistic in nature because of my emotions but they were contained. Like the colors were not what I wanted them to be because I was afraid of playing with them I wanted them to be perfect and in a degree, I’ve chilled out a lot more about that.
Who are a few artists/people that really inspire you right now, and why?
Geomara: Artists that inspire my work are mainly Pablo Picasso and Frida Kahlo. Both of these artists had the ability to abstractly express the intangible intricacies of their psyche and emotions. Both Frida and him conveyed their pain through their art. Next is Oswaldo Guayasamin, an Ecuadorian artist whose was very raw and expressive depictions of people often depicted his views and opinions regarding social injustice showed me that art can send a message to the world. His portrayal of people and their expressions are something I greatly admire. He could convey their struggle and pain at almost an empathic level. Mario Gonzalez, Jackson Pollock, and Hulya Ozdemir are also in the list because of their use of vibrant expressions of color in their work. It is vivid and bold which I identify greatly with my work. Pollock especially! I love channeling my inner Pollock. It’s chaotic like that part of me I sometimes let out to play. I have the most fun channeling Pollock.
What’s the most challenging part of your artistic process? And how do you overcome it?
Geomara: The most challenging part is to find the time to create. I have so many ideas but I need to be in the zone and alone for hours to make something I am satisfied with. I like working alone and I am incredibly self-critical of my work so I keep a lot of sketches. It stalls me sometimes but I love playing with my desire for control and chaos. I struggle with it but I enjoy every second of the creative process because of it. However, because of my job and school at this time is a bit hard to sit down for 4 -6 hours uninterrupted. I do wake up earlier and stay up late at night when inspiration hits! I also don’t have as much space as I did before so I am waiting on the summer to paint in the yard because I love making big abstract messy pieces and my living situation is not the best for that. I painted the Nurturer in my bed with a lot of plastic under to avoid staining my comforter. My back died!!
Tell me more about your inspiration by nature and how it’s male and female energy, more female influences your work. And do you have a real-life situation that inspired your art?
Geomara: Nature is grounding. I don’t know if it’s because Ecuador is so green but nature is beautiful. I cannot live in a place without trees. I grew up sheltered but was exposed to nature a lot as a child so it‘s a mix of the freedom being in nature makes me feel and the joy that being in it brings me. It’s definitely more of a freedom feeling. Regarding the male and female energy, I’ve been exposed to spirituality as a way of life and became more spiritual than religious in recent years. I learned about the feminine and masculine energy that makes up the world and I resonate with it. It brings balance. I’ve resonated a lot with the feminine aspect of it. Healthy Female energy is nurturing and receptive while masculine energy is protective and giving. I’m more in tune with the feminine part of it because I never had a relationship with men where I’ve felt completely safe and seen. It’s been a complicated and painful experience so feminine energy resonates a lot with me. If I was to depict masculine energy it would be overbearing, possessive and unsafe which is why I am trying to come into better terms with what healthy masculine energy is in my life. I might just create a collection like that! Thanks! The therapist in me also recognizes the fact I’ve lived my life repressing the fact I am bisexual so the expression of that part of me is also a reason why I love drawing women. I can’t show that part of myself to my relatives, thus a reason why it’s a sort of outlet to show what I wish I could express openly.
What is the work you’ve done that you’re the most excited about?
Geomara: I have a couple! The Cosmic Happiness piece is one of my favorites. I created that in a full state of joy. It was messy and took me a couple of sessions to complete but I got lost in it. In contrast, The Nurturer was a reflection of the pain I felt when I recognized how I hurt and lost myself trying to nurture and heal others. However, it is that part of me that I love the most. We need people that sacrifice for the well being of others but there needs to be balanced, I didn’t know that. I learned that female energy sometimes nurtures at its own expense. It was a huge outlet to create that one. I felt a sort of cathartic pain while working on that one. I even cried but in a good way. Right now I am working on female portraits for an organization that works with women and children’s rights and that one is incredibly inspirational because I will help spread the story of regular women that are resilient and strong. I am excited to paint very sexy nude self-portraits of myself! That is a project I want to dive deep into.
Share some interesting facts about your art with us.
Geomara: I tend to go into phases where certain colors attract me. Right now I am in love with reds and oranges! I also cannot replicate a painting as much as I try. Each painting or sketch is different since my emotional state greatly influences the subject, colors, and strokes I work with.
What memorable responses have you had to your work?
Geomara: I made a nude picture into a painting for someone and they were so in love! It made them so happy to see how beautiful their body looked. I also had someone say that my art was like a mix of Picasso and Frida Kahlo and it touched my heart! I liked them but I never felt I would be compared to them at any level.
Another artist told me my linework was special and emotive and he encouraged me to nurture it into my art thus why my lines are a big part of my work. I used to think they were not “perfect” but that comment helped me be nicer to myself.
Everyone loves how bold and colorful my paintings are. They say my art resembles me and I love that because I hid for so long from myself that being seen is so rewarding.
What is the best way to reach people that are interested in your art?
Geomara: I am trying to figure that out! I am putting myself out there. Right now I am in social media but I am aware that exposure means creating more and the constant editing and posting is hard for me. I am happy creating and when I can connect with someone that resonates with the art. Ahhh It’s like our own little community.
What’s next for you?
To learn more about Geomara and her art, please check:
Website
Thank you!