Maria is an amazing visual artist and creative director living in Zaragoza, Spain. Her works are compelling and impressive. Her website is a treasure trove of art exhibitions and works that are feast for the eyes. We had a short chat with her about her work and what it means to build a career in Visual Art.
For Creative Girls: What is your creative process like? What’s your daily routine and how do you manage your time and resources?
María Romero: My creative process is free, that means that I let the ideas take form by themselves.
I must say that a lot of my creative process is forged in my dreams, I give much importance to that part of my life.
Where were you born and where do you live now? How have these places influenced your art?
I was born in Buenos Aires, and I lived in Spain 6 years ago. Perhaps most of the influence of living in these places is the migration and the moving process, which has affected me a lot and made me grow as a person and as an artist.
How did you get started on being a Visual Artist? When did you first become interested in art?
I grew up in a hyper-stimulated environment. My education has always included all sorts of experimentation in the arts.
I went into the visual arts self-motivated after a period of estrangement and search, in 2004 and since then I have been exploring the ramifications of this profession. You never know if what you are making is making you.
What media do you prefer and how did you come to use it as your primary one?
I prefer not to marry any media.
You describe art as a process, not a product. Can you explain what you mean?
I insist that Art should be viewed as a process and not a product, dead in a museum, sterile and decontextualized. In any case, the result is the frozen documentation of a process of movement, creative and deep, that reflects and at the same time creates the artist.
Did you go to art school and would you say going to an art has influenced your career?
I started alone in the Arts, in fact I studied design. However, this year I decided to formalize my career and I have enrolled in an Art school, where I’m studying engraving. The art school opens my perspective and I think it’s making my art mature.
A lot of artists have to deal with showing their work, the best way(s) to show their work and how to profit. How do you show your work and what’s your advice for people who don’t understand how to go about showing their work?
Showing your work finishes the job! I do not understand too the timidity of some people, I guess it’s fear of exposure, or taking critics too seriously. Of course there are people who will not like your work, but is always interesting to see the explosion of meaning that happens when you are looked at multiple individuals.
What are you currently working on?
I am preparing two exhibitions in Zaragoza, Spain. One single and another with the photographer, Verónica Andrés.
At the same time, I’m making my place in the publishing world, I want to edit a couple of projects, but I can not say more for now.
What is your own definition of creativity?
I like a phrase from Einstein that says: “Creativity is intelligence having fun”.
What advice would you give to any aspiring or future arts practitioners?
Never stop doing things. Create, create and create, no matter what anyone else says.
What’s your philosophy on the nature of visual art? What do you think it fulfills within society and what should its purpose be?
The purpose is create a purpose, to exist, be true to myself.
Name 3 artists you love.
Ian Svankmayer, Louise Bourgeois, Alejandra Pizarnik.
