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Artist Spotlight
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Jean Villamizar |
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Name: Jean Villamizar
City: Miami
Birthplace: Maryland/DC area
Artistic Medium: Collage and Acrylic
How did you get started?
I’ve known since I was 5 or 6 that I wanted to be an artist. My first
memory of this was while creating a picture book, with drawings of mix and match
animal parts, and decided then that that’s what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I took three-hour blocks of art in high school, and then started college, but
wasn’t able to continue. Life with two children changed my path for many years,
but two years ago, I started painting again, and haven’t stopped. The passion
that I always had surfaced once again and is now directing my every step, and I
am savoring every minute of it.
Who or what are your influences?
As far as art is concerned, Andy Warhol is a big favorite of mine; there’s a
contemporary African artist named Wanchegi Mutu that I really like as well. My
work has been compared to the faded billboards and layered postings you see on
the side of a building, and those kinds of images actually do influence me a
lot.
What inspires your work?
I get a lot of my inspiration from fashion magazines, and now from digital
photos I take or that friends send me. I find great beauty in the everyday
girl, and many of my friends inspire me. With shadow and light across the face,
I find subtle imagery that can make the seemingly ordinary eyes, nose or mouth
seem overwhelmingly powerful and mysterious.
How does Miami/South Florida influence your work?
I grew up in South Florida, so most of my life experience relates directly
to this area. There is so much focus on looking perfect – nails, hair, body,
clothes – even where you live and what you drive – that you can really get
caught up in it and forget that each of us is perfectly designed just the way we
are. That really makes me want to say something in a visual way. We live in a
very colorful place, too and so much is about the visual experience. There’s
lots of color, and skin, bright sunshine and glamour – those things all make
their way into my work. Living in downtown Miami, the urban edge of the city
finds its way into my work too. I’ll be driving home and see a huge billboard
with, like, 10 different ads on it, all torn away and fading, and I think about
ways to duplicate that in my work.
How would you describe your work?
I call it “abstract deconstructionism”. I create a collage, generally of some
media-driven message about beauty, power or sex (or all of the above) and then
paint an image of a woman over it. Then, once the painting is just the way I
want it, I tear the collage and the painting. This accomplishes two things: it
destroys the media controlled messages contained within and it reveals images
beneath the surface, representing the many layers of a woman’s mind, body and
soul. The eye is always intact in my works, because I believe it to be the
window to the soul, and I hope that each woman will find a way to keep her soul
and its inherent power and beauty intact.
What has been the most unusual reaction to your work from the public?
I enjoy watching the reactions to my work, but most interesting is how men
look at it. I’ve seen women pulling their dates away from a painting, as the
men are drawn into the imagery. I’m not sure if they are experiencing it on a
deeper level or if they’re just mesmerized by the image of some naked lady.
What would you like to achieve as an artist?
On a material level, I would hope to be able to paint full-time – I want a
studio and a gallery, instead of having a day job. On a deeper level, I hope
that my work inspires true self-love in girls and women everywhere. I guess I
am a feminist of sorts, although I don’t like to box myself in to any category;
I don’t think that loving yourself for who you are needs a label. Knowing that
you are loved for who you are and for the way you look is a gift that every
person should receive; unfortunately, we sometimes forget to love ourselves.
I would hope that my work can address some of the
self-image issues that women face everywhere in the world, but sometimes
especially here in South Florida. I have two daughters, and they sometimes fuel
my work; I want them and every other girl who sees my work to know that she is
perfect and just as beautiful as what she sees in the magazines, on TV and in
movies. Self-acceptance is the most beautiful quality a girl or woman can
possess.
Upcoming shows:
I enjoyed a collaboration of jazz and art in September, as part of the Arts
at St. Johns organization. Some of my work is also currently being exhibited at
Precious Designs, an interior design firm on Biscayne, near the Design
District. While I don’t have any other shows in the works just yet, I do update
my website; information on upcoming events can be found there.
Where is your work available?
Currently, my work is only available at my shows, through Precious Designs, and
on my website,
downtowndivaart.com.
If you are an artist and would like to be a part of Artist
Spotlight, contact Mary Damiano at
StarrWriter2000@aol.com
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