Marta Gondar
Law student and Artist
Lisbon, Portugal
I am a Portuguese law student and artist focused on the connection between colors and use of different materials to portray feelings in my art. To be an artist is to be the most sincere version of yourself all the time and not being capable of being dishonest about your revolutionary nature. I think the substrate of every color says a lot about the message that the painting will project, and I am also fascinated with using gravity in my paintings. Usually, I just let the colors fall on paper so it does not become a creation of mine, rather just a product of physics.
When did u start painting, and why?
I started to paint in 2020 after having a really bad time during my summer holidays and being diagnosed with depression. I had the idea to buy some art materials and just started painting, and must say that art therapy is an
amazing and healthy coping mechanism for depression and anxiety disorders.
Where are you from, and how do your paintings reflect your culture?
I am Portuguese and think that Portuguese people are unable to stop. They are always thinking about new stuff and techniques, and are extremely creative. I think that my art-making mirrors that deep desire to discover new things and ways to get closer to people through art. I am the product of that huge existential problem. Unfortunately, art is not a priority in our political system. It was never considered as an essential activity and during COVID-19 art professionals have had a really bad time. As a law student with a lot of interest in politics, I think that the rights of art professionals should be protected because it is an unstable profession by nature, and with the crisis that we are going through, we need to protect not only art professionals but all precarious professionals.
You say you are the product of a huge existential problem. How so?
I have both the good and bad habit of questioning everything, which helps me to think about the psychological aspects I use in my paintings and poems. However, being an overthinker in my normal life is not great. I'm always trying to be a better person and artist but sometimes it's not easy – my life changed a lot in 2020 with both good and bad stuff, the good news is that it helped me discover that my biggest passion is visual arts.
You said that you write poems too, what are the thematics that you like to write about?
Well, I love to write. I feel powerful when I do but I usually write about problems of mine, in a sarcastic manner. But it is also very centered on emotions and impulsive feelings.
What does your creative process look like?
My art production is all about human nature. When I am creating, I just let the dye do its job and create a new emotional system on the paper, one that people will interpret in a very distinct way. I refuse to project interpretation to my paintings, I just feel that I should not do that. My creative goal is to destroy my personality, personal beliefs, what I like or what I don't like, and create something that is completely different from me. However, it is difficult because as a human being I can sometimes recognize what emotions the work may evoke.
What is the most important thing in your creative process?
Color is the most important thing for me, I mostly just use primary colors. I don't mix pigments to create secondary colors, I like to use them raw and in their original nature. The movement I use with the paintbrush or other tools, also dictates what kind of result I will end up with. I love color so much that one of the things that I love to do is makeup – I always paint my eyes with vibrant colors. I think my friends and family think that is my signature image.
As you love to work with colors, what is your favorite one?
I don't have a favorite color, but in terms of painting I love to work with black, and black mixed with water and red. When it comes to makeup, II love blue.
Who is your favorite artist?
My favorite painter is Salvador Dalí – I just love his plastic expression and the whole new world one can create through looking at the surroundings in his paintings. I also love his wife and muse Gala Dalí, she was an incredibly artistic person and writer.
Who is your favorite Portuguese visual artist?
I think that Portuguese visual arts need to be talked about more, and the world needs to know some of our creators. I think my favorite is Almada Negreiros or Júlio Pomar, being descendants of the modernist movement of ‘Orpheu’ they have really unique techniques and use them in a very vibrant way.
To conclude, what would you like to say to people that love visual arts but don’t feel recognized, or to people who want to start creating?
That they should never stop and always do it for themselves, rather than for others. Not everyone has artistic sensitivity and that is okay, we should always see art as a way to work within ourselves, to get to know ourselves, and to love our capacity of creating new worlds out of our surroundings. However, we should always be grateful when people show that they care about our work, and give us opportunities to share it with the world.
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