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What inspired you to create artwork and become an artist? (events, feelings, experiences...)
My artistic journey began in Spain in 2006. In Toledo, I was part of a painting workshop. I then took painting and art history classes at the Etterbeek Academy of Fine Arts for 2 years, then at the Watermael-Boitsfort Academy until 2013, in Brussels. My first works were figurative in style, soon moving towards a freer play of shapes and colors through a more personal transformation that almost reached abstraction. From an initial use of oil, I then moved towards other materials, pigments, acrylics, filler, so that texture and volume play as important a role as form, giving greater expressive force. I am particularly interested in landscapes and everything evocative about nature. Glaciers, cliffs, horizons. Metaphors of our destinies, of the obstacles that arise and of our finitude.
What is your artistic background, the techniques and subjects you have experimented with to date?
My true journey takes place in Brussels in two fine arts academies (painting, drawing, art history). Oil, acrylic, pigment, desire to discover new materials. Nature is my source of inspiration, which I see as a metaphor for our destinies, our finiteness.
What are the 3 aspects that differentiate you from other artists, making your work unique?
I don't pretend to be different, because by trying to be different, we all become the same. I want to be myself.
Where does your inspiration come from?
Real.
What is your artistic approach? What visions, sensations, or feelings do you want to evoke in the viewer?
Reality exists and you just have to look at it.
What is the creative process of your works? Spontaneous or with a long preparatory process (technique, inspiration from art classics or other)?
I need an inspiring image that I can represent or transform.
Do you use a particular working technique? If so, can you explain it?
Observation.
Are there any innovative aspects to your work? Can you tell us what they are?
The play of colors.
Do you have a format or medium that you are most comfortable with? If so, why?
A preference for large formats. They seem more meaningful to me.
Where do you produce your work? At home, in a shared studio, or in your own studio? And in this space, how do you organize your creative work?
I have a corner at home.
Does your job require you to travel to meet new collectors, for trade fairs or exhibitions? If so, what does it bring you?
Going to see exhibitions is a necessity for me.
How do you imagine the evolution of your work and your career as an artist in the future?
I think the future is uncertain, which I take as a compliment.
What is the theme, style or technique of your latest artistic production?
Lately I have been painting large animal heads.
Can you tell us about your most important exhibition experience?
It was an exhibition in three places; all three beautiful buildings in three cities.
If you could create one famous work in the history of art, which would you choose? And why?
"Guernica"; You can't not look; it's a painting that immerses you in a tragic episode in the history of the 20th century; it's a universal painting.
If you could invite any famous artist (dead or alive) to dinner, who would it be? How would you suggest they spend the evening?
Picasso; We would talk about Guernica, and we would try to find some truth in art.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli 
