We recently connected with Natália Oliani and have shared our conversation below.

Natália, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Last year, I restarted a project that means a lot to me and I hope will mean something to others. It’s an illustrated poetry book that draws on folkloric characters and stories from Brazil (Brasil) to help people explore how they relate to their feelings and emotions.

Growing up in Brasil and living in the United States, I’ve found that people have difficulty expressing themselves, often sublimating their feelings in unhealthy ways. For example, someone’s anger or dissatisfaction with the truth might lead them into a state of denial and hatred. Other times, someone may feel the need to dim their inner light because they’re afraid to express joy outwardly or embrace who they are or who they want to be.

Honestly, I believe you can find this issue everywhere around the world. But I can only speak to the places I’ve lived or have traveled. Whether you are in Argentina, Canada, Brasil, or the United States, the issue of emotional expression persists at many levels of society, from the personal all the way up to the communal or national level. Some cultures may lead to more direct or indirect ways of communicating, and all people deal with the issue of emotional sublimation.

I hope that this book can help people find comfort in dealing with their feelings and emotions, and serve as a mirror for self reflection. In many ways, it is an extension of my Dialogue series, in which I would establish a one-on-one relationship with my subjects to understand and paint or draw their inner emotional space.

My subjects would share information to help me visualize what their inner emotional space looks like- What colors, shapes, and patterns does it have? How do emotions move through them? It is an interesting and fulfilling process but it’s limited to the dialogue between the person, myself, and the canvas.

The poetry book, however, allows me to connect with more people and gives them a helpful tool for self exploration of their inner emotional space. Moreover, it’s a great opportunity to share some of my Brasilian heritage and culture with a new audience. I truly hope it helps people better connect with themselves.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an interdisciplinary artist from Brasil. I have always known I was an artist, and it is the only thing about myself and my life I have never questioned or doubted. My mission as an artist, on the other hand, was not so clear early on as my conviction to be an artist.

I have always had an interest in exploring people’s feelings and emotions as my subject matter. And in recent years, this interest has been the driving force behind my work. I want to help people better relate to themselves and how they express and regulate their emotions. My forthcoming poetry book and Dialogue series are good examples of this effort to connect and understand others as well as myself.

Sometimes, I seek out new people to be subjects of my work. Other times, people connect with me directly to commission a painting or small drawing that fits within the Dialogue series,

My paintings, sculptures, installations, animations, poems, performances, and video art have all been an effort to connect. I don’t find much inspiration in the “lonely” or “isolated” artist narrative or lifestyle. I don’t want to be a hermit or a stoic or sad, stuffed away in some studio.

Give me life and community! Give me connection to others!

This fuels me and my work. And in some way, I hope that what gives me life and purpose will have a positive impact on others, no matter if the impact is small or large.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Life is challenging when you’re alone. And you feel like you don’t have the support or safety to speak up or ask for what’s necessary to meet basic needs or make life better for yourself. Especially as an artist. You can carry a lot of weight and bottle it all inside. But you’re an artist and you’re born an artist. So, you have to keep moving forward and you struggle and do what you have to do to get by. I think we need more support, even if it’s just a loving call from a friend of family member who boosts your morale.

I recently watched the movie The Color Purple. The atrocities Celie and the other women in the film faced and overcame touched me. How could they not? Something really powerful about the film is that the women helped each other speak up, and say “hell no!” to the people and society that tried to keep them down. I think we should say “hell no!” more often in our life, not just accept any thing that comes our way. We should speak up and ask for what we want, need and deserve. Most of all we must be respected, and that starts with respecting ourselves. We shouldn’t allow people to walk over us or stay in unwanted situations that hurt us.

When I first moved to the United States to start at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), I was isolated and thought I was alone. I was living off $500-600 a month. First, I was living with a couple, but I had to move out. Then I moved in with two strangers, Brazilians who were also struggling. We lived in an old building in Newark. I didn’t even have a room at the time. My living space was a dilapidated “mudroom” separating the backyard and the interior of the house. The walls were thinner than the rest of the house and it had no heat during the winter. Water would freeze. The land lord gave me two heaters to use, but if both were plugged in at the same time they would blow out the breaker panel. The trash cans were right outside the door, so mice would scamper around near the old mattress I slept on on the floor. I eventually had to start sleeping in the living room.

I had no money. $400 went to rent and $100 to transportation. I would use used canvases for my classes and buy materials from the dollar store. Sometimes my friends or roommates would buy me food cause they could see that I was not eating. It was terrible. But things changed for me one day when I when I started crying while speaking to a substitute drawing teacher,

She saw me struggling and said, “Speak up. If you want something or need something, ask.” So I went to Student Affairs and talked to Bill Martino. He gave me two cards that had $100 for meals and he helped me get housed in SVA’s building on Ludlow Street. With my housing and transportation covered (SVA provides Ludlow residents a monthly metro card), I was able to start buying food and supplies for myself.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

There are couple of practical things that can be done at different levels to support artists (and others):

1) I think that artists can do a better job at helping one another outside of setting up group shows. Many of us struggle to make an income off of selling art and need to work odd jobs or be in the service industry, There isn’t much security in this work. I think we could do better at helping each other find quality jobs, referring each other to trust worthy people in our networks who can help us grow, and helping one another navigate practical things like health insurance, applying for affordable housing lotteries, taxes, and managing personal expenses.

It’s not as flashy as throwing a star studded gala or thrifting designer clothes to put on airs for a cocktail event at Gagosian Gallery, but these things are important to have the sanity necessary to make art. Otherwise, you run around trying to balance thirty things in your head and never have the clarity you need o make work.

2) International artists who don’t have much money and move to places like New York need love too. Not everyone who comes from abroad has parents or family members that can afford to take care of them in a big city. They struggle, work under the table, and are constantly concerned about their visa statuses. Reaching them and helping them plug into established networks is important. And giving them a chance to shine in gallery spaces and media is important as well.

3) Increasing affordable housing options in major cities will help support artists and others. Everyone deserves the ability to live and work in the same place without being priced out of the market. I know that the internet has changed the way in which artists connect to other artists, collectors, dealers, and audiences. However, I still think it’s critical for artists to be in major city centers if they want to really participate in commercial side of the art world and connect with others. That said, if federal governments in countries like the United States and Brasil could increase affordable housing subsidies like Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and Volume Cap Bonds in states with major cities, more developers would have an opportunity to provide affordable housing options. I think this would go a long way to helping more artist be able to live in major cities.

4) Lastly, I think something like Klarna or Affirm should be set up specifically for artists so they can sell their work to others on a line of credit and get paid through automatic installment payments. The buyer would be contractually obligated to pay each installment to the seller. This would allow for more artists to sell their work securely and generate monthly revenue. And it would allow buyers to more easily afford work.

For example, if an artist sold three $4,000 paintings on an installment plan for 18 months, they would be making $660 of revenue a month. This extra income could be a helpful boost if you’re working another job. Plus, your work is now someone’s collection. And the collectors only pay $220 a month. It’s not exclusive to collectors either. Another artists could buy a $500 drawing from you and just pay $40 a month for 12 installments. That’s affordable enough.

Maybe something like this already exists? I don’t know. But if it doesn’t or if it’s not low cost, someone should create it or a version that’s affordable for emerging artists to use it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nataliaoliani.com
• Instagram: @nataliaoliani
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nataliaoliani.oficial/
• OVimeo: https://vimeo.com/nataliaoliani
• Pinterest: studionataliaoliani

Image Credits
– Painting on boat, Photographer: Maria Luiza Amorim – Image of 6 people and installation hanging in front of window, Photographer: Matías Alvial