9 Questions with Chary Hilu

Artist and educator of visual arts from Argentina, Chary Hilu is a member of the Association of Visual Artists of Argentina. She graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and studied drawing and sculpture with the sculptor Juan Maffi. She won prizes for her sketches in competitions organized by the Luis Perlotti Museum, the San Isidro Youth Salon, the SAAP Adrogué Salon, and other institutions in Argentina. In addition, she participated in exhibitions organized by the Ramseyer Dayer Foundation, the Centro Cultural Borges, the Argentine Society of Fine Artists, and several mosaic exhibitions in Italy.

In 2021 she participated in the virtual exhibitions MAU (University Art Exhibition) Ibagué (Colombia), BINATIONAL ARTWALK (Arizona), 1st International Environmental Art Biennial "COMPATIBILITY ISSUES" IAVPOA. She was also selected for the Artist Book Exhibition in the Municipality of Hurlingham (Buenos Aires) and participated in the Collage Exhibitions and the Autumn Salon of the Argentine Society of Visual Artists, International Virtual Gallery of Puerto Rico.

In 2022 she participated in the 2ND International Biennale of Text Art "POSTMODERN SPEECHES" IAVPOA and virtual exhibition and interview in The Flux Review in England, XI international exhibition MundoArti 2022 Virtual Museum (Spain), exhibition in Digital Chroma Agency (Berlin). Landscaping Contest 2022 APVA (Buenos Aires), selected in Lacuna Festival (Spain) and in the 9th edition of the artist book Fueguino Museum of Art (Argentina).

www.artebaires.com.ar/hilu/ | @charyhilu

ARTIST STATEMENT

Chary Hilu's works came as reactions to sensations, feelings, and experiences evoked from extreme situations.
The works from 2020 to 2022 were motivated by the pandemic, involving confinement, death, uncertainty, fear, suffering, chaos, and oppression, as the emotions that mobilized and sensitized her.
Her creative process feeds on experimentation and the subsequent discovery of different materials, formats, and supports. This is why in her works, a great eclecticism manifests itself in different visual languages: digital collages with intervened photographs, objects, drawings, sculptures, high reliefs, and collages with recycled materials (found or existing) that explore and alternate figuration and abstraction.
These expressive works are capable of deeply touching the viewer both emotionally and intellectually.

INTERVIEW

First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. Who are you, and how did you start experimenting with images?

I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When I was little, I spent hours drawing and painting. At 18, I was undecided whether to study architecture, advertising, or fine arts. Finally, I decided to go for the fine arts. I studied for 5 years the various disciplines of art, such as painting, drawing, sculpture, and engraving. At the same time, I studied sculpture and drawing with a live model in the private art studio of Juan Maffi. 

How would you define yourself as an artist?

As a builder of bridges between my inner and outer.
Art is my language, my way of communicating, expressing what I feel and think, combining what I have learned in my academic training with explorations and the constant need to experiment. 

Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What is your artistic routine when working?

I usually have ideas that I sketch out to give them form. Then, when I get them to the largest format, I make them and try them out with different materials I have available. The opposite has happened to me as well: A material falls into my hands, and I have an idea of how to use it. In both cases, I take photos of the works in progress. I look at them, and I look at them again, I work with several works in parallel. My works or series usually have a thematic continuity, a common thread. 

How much planning goes into each artwork?

It depends on each work, but generally, the idea of what I want to convey with the images flows within me. Of course, the realization of the work takes much longer than the idea itself. But it's a back and forth. The work emerges in the process. I can imagine how it will start, but I do not know how it will end because changes occur in the work itself when I experiment. Also, each material I use opens doors to new experiments, discoveries, torn fabrics, torn papers, frayed ribbons, found papers, nets, threads that offer me other possibilities that I had not initially anticipated. 

What do you see as the strengths of your project, visually or conceptually?

I set no limits to my expression. I can break out of the conventional formats of a painting and the most traditional materials and take materials that are discarded and transform them... The materials become indestructible. I save materials that have a different purpose and give them a different meaning. The work gains volume and becomes a high relief.
Conceptually, I strive to create an aesthetic work, to find techniques and materials (appropriate to their nature and symbolism) to embody expressions, feelings and ideas in their context and with their cultural and social burdens, thus arriving at a symbolic object, with man with his crises and dilemmas of his existence at the centre of my artistic search I think my work is characterized by expressionism and materiality. 

How do you differentiate yours from the rest? In other words, what do you feel makes your work unique and truly your own?

Every artist is recognized according to his technique and creative style.
In my case, the technique is the result of my academic training and art classes, which have influenced my creative style, as it has given me the ability to find solutions, experiment and play with art with great freedom, and therefore the ability to adapt. Use the available material and create with it. I also like to experiment with digital art, different formats and materials. 

Where did you get your imagery from? What sources did you use?

My works express feelings, experiences, memories, or what I see around me, in the world, and what touches me emotionally. The pandemic was a very important point in my life. It awakened in me a strong need to express a unique situation.
Following the premise of working with what I had at hand during the time of captivity, I went back and looked at many old drawings I had made with a live model. I started cutting them out, working with collages, with the printer, with ribbons, with what I found. It was very transformative work as I began to resign from my own old productions.
Art is wonderful because it offers the unique opportunity to express feelings, emotions, and experiences. The contact you make with yourself at the moment of creation and the possibility of being amazed and surprised by the work created are unique.

Do you find that the shift to digital exhibitions and art fairs has helped you promote your work?

Yes. I started an art website for artists in 1999 (www.artebaires.com.ar) because I knew that this was the future: to show works online so that art could reach everyone, everywhere.
In recent years, the website has grown much more and I think it has accelerated the production of samples in digital format. This opportunity offers a democratization of art. It is no longer the only way to make a physical exhibition in a gallery. In this sense, art needs to be disseminated and digital exhibitions are a tool. If my art can be mobilized through digital exhibitions, these initiatives are welcome. 

Finally, any projects you are looking forward to for this year?

I am moving my studio, I hope to be able to work with works in larger formats and deepen the realization of installations. I would like to be able to intervene spaces within an exhibition face to face.