An abstract and figurative dialogue WITH MARTHA RAMIREZ

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VERSION EN ESPAÑOL

After 40 years of work, Martha Ramírez takes her career to the highest level, where she combines abstract and figurative art at its best. 

G. Natasha  - In front of me, red, small, strong, and alive. As I get closer, it moves, dances with my energy – My thoughts when I saw the red painting of the series "Transición''.

The Artist - Martha Ramírez, a Colombian female artist, reflects on the moments of our daily life. Taking inspiration from images that move her, or life stories. She gives rise to her ideas that she transfers to the canvas through oil painting, creating a connection between the viewer and the painting.

Beyond identity, what is important is what happens to people: their experiences, their life stories. This was portrayed in the exhibition "Transición'" at the Museum of Modern Art of Medellin  (MAMM) which seeks to describe how human beings are affected by the environment, nature, and our relationship with both.

On the other hand, the concept and intention of her creations is diverse and fresh, as evidenced in La Balsa gallery, located in the city of Medellin, with the exhibition titled “Paisajes de incertidumbre” (Landscapes of Uncertainty), a collaboration that Martha carried out with 3 female Colombian artists. There, Martha proposed a broad and expressive personal vision where the presence of chains represents the strength we have if we unite for a common cause. "If we summarize chaos and modernity, autobiographical memory and social conflicts in relation to nature, we can conclude that contemporaneity has displaced the romantic and rural gaze of the landscape towards a vision that questions and inverts the notions of it." Comments Patricia Gómez, curator of La Balsa gallery.

In short, it is an artwork that demonstrates the exploration of new ideas that require a space to symbolize and observe the connection between humans and their environment.

Martha Ramírez works on the concepts of migration and borders through art, where it is common to change homes during situations that affect us.

For her, the concept of moving and displacement without a doubt creates “a change of state, a transition that supposes a temporary interval, a non-permanent stage between two moments. These ideas come to be in a polyptych that evokes a landscape divided into various formats and stages of the image: a landscape broken in its space-time continuity.”

In addition, she adds that, in these uncertain places, “points of view multiply, integrating elements such as aerial view, ground level, proximity, distance, water, air and land.

Likewise, the evocation of a map appears, as mental cartography, where the morphology and continuous juxtaposition of the portions of land that make up the countries are like life itself: unstable and changing.”

Where are you from? How does your artwork take inspiration from there?

I am Colombian, from Bogotá by accident, but I have lived in Medellín since I was six months old. Not only does the country where you are born, but the socio-cultural context where you grow up, affects the way of being and existing in the world. Colombia is a country of violence, pain and sadness and it is inevitable that one moves away from that.

The gender with which we are born, the experiences lived, the education to which we have access, and many other social, cultural, economic, and even spiritual factors, end up shaping the way we are and living in the world. In that sense, they have a direct impact on the art we make, because art and life are not far away, on the contrary, they are in constant dialogue, one feeds off the other. 

How did you get into the art world? 

Since I was a child, I was curious and sensitive. I was drawn inby shapes and colors. I drew a lot; I was a good observer of what was happening around me. There was a certain connection, we could say natural, with values attributed to art, which deepened throughout my life, through experiences lived, studies, and practicing art.

Do you feel that being a woman has played against or in your favor within the art world?

I think I can't complain, because in the art world we are more flexible. If I were a lawyer or an engineer, I would suddenly notice it more.

I have never felt that being a woman has been a disadvantage. But when they ask you at home, “are you going to be an artist? For God's sake, she’s going to starve!” But I have understood that everything begins with work, and one must defend what they believe in. If I want to be considered, I must have a job and if I don't, then how will I do it? It all depends on you and what you present.

What techniques do you use to overcome creative blocks?

I read, write, draw, think and, above all, I try to give continuity to the processes that I have started, which are usually several.

When I stop producing, the mind and ideas lose momentum and it is difficult to reconnect, but if I am constantly in contact with them, the blocks are easily overcome.

If you stop working on something, you go cold. Starting again,is like sports, when you stop practicing everything hurts. "If you stop, you get cold", but it's part of the process because ideas don't always slip out, but rather you get stuck, so I change and start something else.

I work on two or three projects at the same time, so I can always change my mind, change the environment; but everything related to art or the projects that will be done and thus, one is reconnecting. Not surprisingly, someone said that art is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration.

Is there an artist that inspires your composition or style of painting?

Maybe not directly, but there are always artists who are with you, like endearing travel companions. Depending on the proposal that I am working on, there are what we could call referents, artists with ideas or technical procedures like my own, whom I consult and from whom, on occasion, I also draw from.

References do not always come from art, other times, they come from literature, human sciences, poetry and, in general, from any discipline that can contribute to enriching knowledge and refining opinion.

Who’s your favorite artist? 

I cannot name one! There are some artists that interest me for their ideas and the way they express them, such as the SpaniardBaroque artist, Diego Velásquez, or the modern Irish artist Francis Bacon, or also Beatriz Gonzáles, the contemporary Colombian painter; Francis Alÿs, the contemporary Belgian artist, just to name a few.

What’s your creative process like?

In general, the ideas arise from events or experiences that I live and that, in some way, draw me in or spark my interest and my sensibility.

Once that small signal is given, a kind of intuition appears that this signal could become something else. Then I take various actions that allow me to get closer to what interests me and dive deeper.

Without there being a predetermined order, I can say that I work from different approaches, for example: I investigate through reading the topic that interests me or with which the idea it is linked. Likewise, I look for images that dialogue with the theme, I do it through free files that circulate on networks.

Other times, there are images that I find when I go through life, because when you have an open question, your eyes and thoughts sharpen and you usually find things that at other times would go unnoticed and in this case, I take photographs or video recordings of what I find and I feel that it can help me.

Each art proposal that I create leaves behind an archive of processes that go through photographs, videos, drawings, montages, writings, etc.

Also, I investigate references from art, that is, I consult works by artists who have worked on related issues, with the purpose of studying how they have solved the idea.

I make drawings, or sketches that allow me to visualize the ideas and calibrate the materials to use. I also do digital assemblies and there, little by little, the ideas are nurtured and the definitive proposals are specified.

How has your style evolved over time?

The concept of style has changed a lot, having a style no longer means painting in the same way. Today, it refers more to a certain approach and internal coherence.

Deep down, we are always the same, much to our regret. With this, I want to tell you that, although the techniques and topics may vary a little depending on the proposal that is being developed, there is something that keeps everything connected.

That something is the essence itself, which I would say changes little, rather it is perfected over time.

I am a deeply humanist, the term humanism is very broad and uncertain, fundamentally, it places the human being at the center of everything. In a certain way, I agree with that intellectual current, but unlike classical humanism, I would add that today man is interdependent of other beings and elements. He is a man affected by the social, economic, and cultural context in which he lives and develops. In this sense, I have a commitment, from art, with my time and what happens in it. I am empathetic and sensitive to the qualities of human nature, and I seek the meaning of what is human.

Besides painting, what do you enjoy doing?

I enjoy reading, taking care of plants, cooking, sharing with my partner and my friends. In general… living the ordinary life.

Describe your dream project.

I wouldn't know how to say it because I'm dreaming as I'm doing it. The dream I have is that the circle of creation closes and that my work comes out of me and connects with the viewer, that it reaches people and contributes something to them.

What advice would you give an aspiring artist?

Beware of the ego, work hard, and be humble.