Interview                                                         SPANISH VERSION   |   FRENCH VERSION]
NATALIA VELIT
PAINTER

«INSPIRATION DOES NOT EXIST»

Every two years, Natalia Velit, leaves her workshop in Paris and returns to Peru in search of her roots. In this interview, the young painter tells "Cosas" her history, talks about her occupation and about the difficult life of the artist.

Natalia Velit left to Paris, with her family, when she was sixteen years old. There, she finished school and decided, without any doubt, to study art. That was her dream since she was a little girl, when she imagined that later on she would be a painter. The aesthetic vein was inherited from her mother who had dedicated to music, but had taken Natalia through the way of the plastic. "Since very young I went to summer workshops; there I discovered the painting and I decided that when I get older I would be devoted only to it".
 

THINGS OF AN ARTIST

However, Natalia leaves her infantile reminiscences quickly and explains her present work. Her picture is worked with oil on canvas and uses both the classic techniques and the collage. For her, to paint is a daily routine, a simple matter and almost natural; nevertheless, the difficult thing is obtaining the people’s acceptance of her work, as if to be devoted to the painting hadn’t had the same demand level, dedication and talent that other professions.

– And why not? In societies like the ours, regrettably, the priorities are others at a massive level. Maybe more medical, lawyers or farmers are needed; but I find that the culture, that embraces the painting, the philosophy, the theater, the cinema, among other things, is an essential pillar in the group’s life. If society doesn't have a cultural base, it’s worthless to have the best agronomist or the best doctor. The two things come together, in parallel. – It is sad, but in Peru the artist is excluded; he or she is considered to be a "lunatic". For the people it is strange to see a person devoted to paint only; does not see him like a profession and that is a lack of culture. In France it’s a profession as worthy as being medical or lawyer; here it is thought that the artists are all bearded, filthy and not well dressed. These are big misconceptions. Fortunately not everybody thinks in this way. – Paris gave me the studies I needed to develop my art. That, with the fact of being peruvian, has raised a characteristic and peculiar style in my painting that reflects the merging of the two cultures.
 

THE REBELLION

When Natalia was twelve years old she had her first official contact with the painting. By that time she started to have classes with Edna Velarde, a well-known painter and historian dedicated to paint the portraits of the national heroes. "I was impressed with her workshop; up to now I remember the scent of the painting in that place", Natalia says so to recalling the first day of her classes. In that moment, the young girl began to know the foundations of the painting capturing to Bolognesi, Grau or San Martin on her horse onto her canvases. "I start myself with the drawing making portraits. I had an excellent teacher as regards figuration", she comments.

– I rebelled myself when I left to Paris, already resolved to study painting. And my rebellion was total when I began in the abstract theme. People uses to think that one arrives to the abstract painting for discards or because one doesn't know how to draw and because to stain is easier. That’s not true at all, I arrived to the abstract after having had a figurative epoch, as any painter. To get there, there is an entire process. – It is true, they are in the boundary between the figuration and the abstract theme. But without a solid figurative base it is impossible to achieve a good abstract; one arrives to it for election, not for consequence. – I orient my pictures through the collage, with inlays of paper. For that reason, in spite of having a pure abstract, in them there is always something concrete too. However, what I want the people to see the didactic and pedagogic work that overrules the picture. – Yes, I am convinced that people have a memory, that besides being selective, it is very ingrate. We only remember what we want to and throw away the rest. It so happens that during the course of the history there have been countless individuals that have contributed to an evolutionary process, but what they’ve done was not been valued fairly. Towards that kind of people or facts is where I orient my painting, as a homage and attempting that they are not forgotten. In the pictures I make, what I want is that the spectator is given the work of come closer and read the text that is affixed in it, so as to discover out his or her history. – For instance. In that picture I wanted to capture how this event was seen particularly in Europe. On it I pasted the cuttings of the newspaper Le Monde, capturing the international opinion on the topic which was completely different to the national opinion. What I want is that we don't forget, that in a moment of our history, this happened and it was real.
 

INSPIRATION

For those reasons Natalia’s work is, in certain way, a door open to interpretation. In her work the handling of the canvas can be seen, with their shade lines and cuttings, always defining a fragment of temporal space. And attending to details, one will be able to see the graffiti, writing lines or, maybe, pieces of dated newspapers speaking out about a particular event.

– The matter of the inspiration is a lie, there’s no inspiration at all. This is a work such as any other and one arrives to his/her workshop and every morning has to paint. – Yes, one must feel under an obligation to paint. If not so, I could stay sat every year of my life waiting inspiration to come. What is inspiration? It is something completely abstract that doesn't have any real sense; it is a mood and you yourself have to create it. – I respect the position of the people who does it, but it’s not my point of view. Perhaps for many people it is useful to smoke some marijuana; but if tomorrow you don't do it, then you don't paint. And if that happens, then the years of study won’t have count, since what is needed is marijuana. What must be done is to have a clear idea of what you are going to carry out, and accomplished it. That’s what I have very clear and I don't need another kind of stimuli.
 

THE PRICE OF THE ART

As time goes by, Natalia is lacking more space to deploy her art on the canvas, because she has a marked tendency toward large formats; that’s why her paintings are difficult to transport and they cannot meet peruvian land. However, despite the size of her pictures, its value has to do anything with its dimensions.

– Those of format 1.95 for 1.30 meters, which are the largest that I can bring to Lima, cost 3 thousand dollars. – The price of the pictures is not –as a lot of people think– what motivate the artist. The prices are in function of the painter's curriculum; the more successful individual exhibitions one can have, the more your picture can cost. – In the future I want to make three-dimensional pictures, in several planes. I don’t want my work limited to a single plane, I’ll allow them to become a kind of sculpture. They will leave their squared shape, but they will continue with the essence of the painting on them. They will not only be hanged on the wall, but another place in the house will be looked for them. That is my project.
 
 
Aída Bellido Jiménez


N° 155   September the11th 1998

.COSAS.
UNA REVISTA INTERNACIONAL
e-mail: [email protected]


 
Natalia Velit's Homepage
www.geocities.com/nataliavelit/

E-mail:

[email protected]
Paris - Telephone & Fax:   33 (1) 448 05 15 14
Lima - Telephone & Fax:   511 - 377 22506

[Home]    [About the Author]    [The Open Work]      [Exhibitions]    [Galleries]

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1