10 Questions with Claudia Aguilera

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, but presently living and working in the heart of Fort Lauderdale, USA, Claudia creates visually compelling portraits through bursts of vibrant colors.

From a young age, Claudia instinctively understood the full-color spectrum and the relationship between forms and shapes and the ability to express that understanding onto a canvas. Over the years, this gift has grown passionately into a masterfully harnessed talent, so much so that she’s become renowned for her specialization in Mixed Media Art known for exclusionary portraits.

Using alcohol-based inks as a medium, Claudia highlights her characters with striking backgrounds and vibrant colors reflecting the beauty and fluidity of the inks - crafting pieces almost impossible to ignore. Her work has gained status in a number of large, renowned exhibitions and more.

www.clauaguilera.com | @claudiaaguilera83

ARTIST STATEMENT

My works are a visual expression of how I see the world. When I look, I see colors. Colors appeal to me, they say, and I express them.

I may not have the vocabulary to express how I see things; my paintings are my way of communicating my truth, and I have gotten to a point where I can consistently express how I see the world.

Each painting I create is unique in its own right; however, you’ll notice the similarities in all my work if you look closely enough. From explosive backgrounds to colorful true-to-life depictions of my subjects, my art takes from the ordinary and adds spice to it.

INTERVIEW

First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. What is your history and your artistic background?

My name is Claudia Aguilera, and I am a portraitist. I was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and currently live in Fort Lauderdale, USA. “My journey in the art world began at a very young age. I learned to appreciate art as a child because I grew up with my grandmother, who was an excellent drawing teacher. I remember that drawing and coloring were my favorite activities when I was a child. I always showed her all my drawings once they were finished so she could give me her opinion, which was very important to me as I wanted to be as good as her.

Eager to be able to broaden and deepen my artistic knowledge, I moved to New York. This city has transformed my artistic vision by looking at all the movements, diversity, and cultural development, and how it has influenced artists of the past and today.”

What is your personal aim as an artist?

I want to show my perspective on the world in the most beautiful way, to influence people's thoughts, moods and actions. My goal as an artist is to transmit my own sensations to others. Try to make life lose monotony, and even vulgarity, create a more open world, less gray, more open to magic, share a renewal impulse, be more coherent, participate more and be less individualistic. To open more windows and knock down all kinds of obstacles.

In your opinion, what role does the artist have in society?

I think that one of the roles of artists is to help people know and understand something with their minds and feel it emotionally and physically. If, for a moment, a person manages to disconnect from the sometimes overwhelming current world and focus on analyzing or simply observing the artist's work, I think that the artist has achieved his goal. Art is about connecting with people's emotions. Art is personal and, at the same time, universal.

What do you hope that the public takes away from this work?

My works are a visual expression of how I see the world. I explore the relationship between artistic expression and celebrity culture. I work with alcohol-based inks to create portraits with vibrant colors that appeal to the viewer. I want to transmit a good feeling to people when they see my work; I hope they enjoy my art as much as I enjoy making it.

In your work, you portray famous characters and public figures. How do you choose them, and do they have a specific meaning for you? 

I would say that the selection that I make with the characters that I choose to portray varies. There are times that these people mean something to me personally. Other times I choose them because I like their aesthetics, and I visualize them in my works. The only thing they have in common is that they are all celebrities and well-known people in the cultural field.

Let's talk about your creative process. Where do you draw inspiration from, and how do you transfer it into your work?

My creative process varies, yet at the same time, I try to follow a certain routine, so to speak. Usually, I have in mind the person I want to portray, but there are times when I suddenly see photographs of someone in a magazine or publication, and that motivates me to imagine how that person would look in one of my paintings. Once I have defined the character I want to paint, I digitize and posterize the image to use as a reference. For example, I change the clothing or some things in the photo; I try to incorporate my style even more into it. Then before drawing the image, I must use the fundamental rules of composition: line, space, color, shape, texture, gamut, arabesques, enclosures, radiation lines, and geometry.

Having already determined the aforementioned, I begin to draw my image on the canvas based on my reference image. When my drawing is finished, I usually start painting the face of the person, and then I work on the clothing. Finally, I focus on the background of the painting. 
In the end, if the painting I was working on is done on a wooden support, I cover it with several layers of epoxy resin, whereas if the painting is done on photographic paper, I then frame it and apply varnish to protect it.
Most of my paintings are made with alcohol-based inks, but I incorporate spray paint, collage, markers, and different types of materials.

What about your colors? Do they have a specific meaning and how do you use them?

The colors that I use in my paintings have a certain meaning since I choose them depending on the character of the person I am portraying and their style, and sometimes I simply analyze which colors would best combine with their face. I also try to maintain and repeat the same colorful aesthetic in my background to maintain a line in my work that is emotional, modern, and contemporary. I try to transmit energy through color, which brings more life to my portraits.

Do you miss in person exhibitions or do you find new stimulus and motivation from the shift to digital exhibitions? How did you adapt your work to the online presentations over the last year?

To be honest, I do miss in-person exhibitions. In-person exhibitions are great opportunities for people to meet the artist in person, see the works live, for the artist to interact with these people, and also get to know other artists and their works. It is understandable that in the world we live and with the pandemic, we all had to adapt to changes and other types of media to show our art, in this case, digital. Digital exhibitions also have their pros in the sense that your work can reach millions of people from the comfort of their home, and also helps the artist to expand their knowledge in the technological world since there are exhibitions that, for example, the artist can create and have on their websites or social networks instead of being on a particular gallery.

Do you have any upcoming shows or collaborations you are looking forward to? 

This month, I will participate in a local group exhibition where I will also be painting live. And in November, I will be at Spectrum Miami. I'm very excited about that.

Finally, what are your plans for 2022 and for the future in general?

Recently I participated in the exhibition 'Spectrum Miami', during the week of Art Basel. This exhibition has been very important to me because it is a world-renowned event and because I was able to interact and show my art to so many people who attended the event and meet local and international artists. Several proposals for galleries and purchases have come out of that exhibition. Due to this, I plan to exhibit at the next show in November. That is one of my plans for 2022 and as regards the future in general, my goal is to be able to take my art as far as I can, grow as an artist and get my work recognized.