We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful María Emilia Hendreich. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with María Emilia below.

Alright, María Emilia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

In fact, I was interested in sharing that, as an artist, I’m also an art teacher, and I was fortunate enough to land a job at the Museum of Fine Arts in my city as an educator. This opened many doors for me and gave me the opportunity to constantly be in touch with the world of the visual arts.

María Emilia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is María Emilia Hendreich. I’m 32, born and live in La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’m a painter.
I’ve always loved art. When I was a child, I started painting in Gonnet, where I lived. Later, after I finished school, I began studying at the University of Arts in my city, the National University of Fine Arts of La Plata.
To graduate, I needed to hold my first solo exhibition, so I showed my work for the first time at Vincent Galeria, City Bell, the gallery and studio space of Francisco Ratti, also an artist.
This exhibition convinced me that I wanted to dedicate my life to art and that showing my artwork was essential to making a living from what I love.
So I entered a competition to hold another exhibition in Buenos Aires, curated by renowned curator and artist Eduardo Stupía. And I won the prize for that exhibition.
From these two experiences, I realized that with hard work and dedication, I could achieve my goals and dreams as an artist, but also that we always need the help of others to achieve them.
Years later, I was invited to hold my first group exhibition in New York, and I fulfilled one of my dreams.
As for my paintings, most contain self-portraits. In them, I intend to give a personal and contemporary character to a subject so traditional and representative of the history of painting.
Initially, the decision to work on this subject arose from a study of my image, and today I focus on the permanent and immediate photographic record I have of my daily life.
I am interested in creating somewhat cinematic scenes with nostalgic overtones that capture a dialogue between the past and the present that runs through me, and keep in mind that the photographic records on my cell phone’s film are the technological resource that serves as a sketch for later producing each work.
I seek to contrast the constant recording of life and the overexposure on social media with the time of realist painting.
At the same time in my recent works, objects and works of art appear frequently, as I have come to understand that I am deeply interested in speaking about humanity through its absence reflected in objects and that there is no object more inherent to the human being than a work of art. When I paint, I always take a journey through the history of painting, focusing on a specific moment to cite it in each work.
It already makes me happy that someone is interested in what I do, and I hope that art can contribute something positive to this world.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The most important thing is that art is assumed as a job like any other.

Buying works by living artists is also very significant to support them.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing; but you can’t escape it.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://emiliahendreich.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emiliahendreich
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariaemilia.hendreich/
• Twitter: https://x.com/emi_hendreich

Image Credits

Personal photo: Valu Marozzi
Solo show photos : fotografía de obra