The Isabel Garmon’s artworks, a painter from Zaragoza, distil a realism with an impressionist character in which color shapes the line and blurs it.
Hi Isabel, it’s a pleasure to talk to you! What were the personal and academic paths that led you to be among the young protagonists of contemporary painting today? What stimulates you creatively?
Well, always it is a pleasure to talk about this because I invested time and effort to reach the point where I am now. I have to say that my artistic career started with the graphic design and illustration studies that I did as first step and thanks to it I could meet the academic drawing and painting world through the hand of my instructors in Madrid getting training in their private studio. At that moment I could feel that my proposal of life was to be a Painter and should get deeper instruction in one of the best academies around the whole world that was in Florence, so I worked hard to reach my goal and thanks to be awarded twice for the prestigious The Elisabeth Greenshields Foundation ́s Grant I could travel to Italy and enroll in The Florence Academy of Art. One year and a half living my dream and making more solid my knowledge about drawing and painting and after this time full of experiences I went back to Madrid to open my own studio and teaching private classes and working on my own stuff. My creativity born through my dreams. Color is a very important tool for me and use my influence of illustration to imagine abstract scenes and work the different kind of vibrations that each bunch of colors can offer in an artwork.
I feel the color and the forms for every piece that I am going to make so just try to feel the emotion of the moment and work through it.
How did you come to your current technique? What is the artwork that best represents you?
My current technique comes from my influences and technical knowledge. I have been inside of a long time of investigation searching different kind of application, languages, ways of expressions with the only goal that was to “find me”. Who am I? This is a question that I wanted to answer and think am starting to know. To find yourself I think you have to fall down and stand up constantly to getting be stronger and understand what your preferences in life are. That knowledge on yourself let you to connect with your artwork and discover the language that represents you and the most important that talks about you. The artwork that best represents me is always my last piece. I do not think that can choose just one artwork, am going to do it through two: “My Guardians”, a serie that I have started where women in black and white are surrounded of color feeling them as Godess in themself where they have the power of giving strength and power to every human being that look at them, and “Infinitus”, my last painting feeling it as my most experimental and loose artwork that I have created ever.
Is there an artist, or are there artists from the past that you like and that you use as a reference? Why?
Of course my friend! Always artist from the past are living with me! Ha! My most important is Velázquez, because for me “everything starts with him”. He is the beginning, the bases of the actual painting born through his technique and for me he is like my father in an artistic way of talking. Other artists that more inspired me is Gustav Klimt, Tranquilo Cremona, Mancini and Anglada Camarasa. I think the main trait that all these painters have is the impressionistic language, my favorite. The impression of the form suggest and lets you to play with the artwork freely!
Is art research and experimentation?
Yes it is! Great question for sure! Art teaches there is no limits on you but only you can understand it being inside of a permanent research and experimentation. You cannot stop, always moving and going to a next step. It is so exciting! When my time living in Florence I discovered that if something was wrong on my life should look at my process of drawing because on it was happening the same, so I realized that If I wanted change something on my life I had to do it on my drawing and vice versa. So look how powerful is this connection between life and art. So yes, art and life evolve at the same time than experimentation and research work.
What do you think are the characteristic elements of your style?
The elements that characterize my style is the graphic shapes and vibrant color. There is something like surrealistic on my language that I think the viewer do not expect to see and that surprise him/her.
Also textures are a main element on my style as part of the composition to let play with the person who looks my work.
Is art a vehicle of messages? Is there a message behind your artworks?
Art is a powerful tool of communication. And you as creator have two options: build the artwork through the message that you want to transmit or to build the message as a result of your decisions on the composition of your piece. On my case always the message comes after making the artwork. Obviously in a subconscious level there is a purpose for every work I make but do not understand the real meaning after finishing it and looking directly to it. I have to say that while making an artwork little by little can understand why colors and forms are chosen but the real meaning comes at the end.
Why the choice of figuration? What does the portrait represent for you?
Figuration represents the physical part of me so I consider important to choose it as the field where I want to move on art nowadays. I have to say that figurative art works for me as a mirror where to find my reflection so as the same way people looking at my work will be able to find themselves on it and help to understand who they are. Figurative art is a tool to know better what the human being is doing on this life. Portrait is the way how I introduce at the time when meeting you, right? We look at our face and connect through our eyes. It is in that moment you can recognize to that person as a human being with an own soul. I really enjoy that moment and for this reason I feel working the human body I can connect better with all of them.
What role does drawing play in relation to your artworks? And the color?
Every artwork that I make is in reality drawing. I love drawing and feel something very powerful when I apply lines and form in order to compose the piece, and no matter if my hand is holding a brush or a pencil. I had a strong and deep training in drawing with graphite where my instructors introduced me the importance of being precise and that let me nowadays to use my drawing with confidence to build every kind of form I want. I use my relation with color to travel to my imagination and bring a proposal full of light. What about my relation with color and drawing? With them I try to explain the quality of the light, being this probably the most important part of my creations. Color is the tool that let me to expand and connect with the child that lives on me and think drawing connects with my adult part. I will always defend the idea that the child has to live permanently inside of us and one of my reasons is because life is a game and we came to play!
How are the titles of your artworks born?
I usually feel the titles of my artworks when I look at them when finished but sometimes the name comes while I am working. It is really exciting that moment, when suddenly you understand the real meaning of the piece that you just have made. Sometimes the title comes easily, you can feel it quickly, but in other cases I need more time. I like to sit down in front of my artwork and see the elements that are inside of the composition and to understand what is the real meaning of all that.
What does it mean for you to make art today?
The meaning of making art today for me is in first of all to communicate, to express my ideas and share them with you through the images I create. On the other hand I think art is a tool of entertainment that give us moments to enjoy and think about what we are looking at. And in a deeper way I consider art is really necessary in our life as human beings because being surrounded of forms that represent the imagination world help us to “smile” and walk with a higher level of energetic vibration. And I would say, as last thing, that for me the esthetic is very important, it influences a lot in us, so for it a care in making beauty through art is very important.
Do you think social media are a useful medium for an artist?
Of course it is! Thanks God social media has helped to be more connected between artists, galleries, collectors and viewers. It is a big window where to show your art and let more people enjoy it. I really feel closer to my audience and my art has no limits.
What projects do you have on the horizon?
Always I am working in my personal artwork and teaching private classes in my studio. But every now and then exciting projects come as mural paintings or animation stuff that love to do. And now I am going to start landscape paintings for an upcoming exhibition that I have for this next July in the north of Spain.
p h o t o s c o u r t e s y i s a b e l g a r m o n
w o r d s e u g e n i a b o o k