Picture by Jip LinckensCan you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Nuria Maria. I make paintings, video and music.
After high school I started studying Cultural Studies at the UvA in Amsterdam for an impressing 5
weeks and one year later Psychology at the UvT in Tilburg; also not a succes. So I went to Florence, Italy for a language course and there I decided that I wanted to do what I love most; make art. I went to the ABKM in Maastricht, where I started to combine video installations with my music. In 2014 I graduated and after that I started exhibiting with both paintings and video/music installations. I live in Rotterdam and Hulsberg; where I was born. It is a big contrast, the city life in Rotterdam and the countryside in Limburg, it works well for me.
What do you consider your distinctive achievement?
An instinctive way of working and a quick, radical way of changing things completely. A painting can have 5 paintings under the final image that were completely different but all led to the final image. Sometimes it’s ‘a little frustrating’ to think of all the things you made and so easily painted over, but I’m not patient enough to wait and overthink things too long. I like the way it grows if you work quickly. In the end, it gives it the layers that it needs. I don’t really plan too much beforehand. Neither with video work or music. Mostly these consist of more or less spontaneous shots and improvised compositions and lyrics. I find it more important that the feeling is legit than the recording perfect. Ironically, this unorganized way of working keeps me more focused to create something new.
What are you looking forward too?
To the upcoming exhibition ‘ A presence of light’ together with photographer Jonas Löllmann, curated by Laura Post ,The Art Project, at Galerie Post+García in Centre Ceramique, 17.08.2018 – 16.09.2018.
The exhibition is a portret of the hot, capturing summer, where the time seems to have its own ways of running.
In the further future, I look forward to create a lot of work and exhibit a lot. And also to be able to completely shut off for a while if it’s necessary. Something I can always look forward to in general, is to come home, take a glass of wine and play the piano all night.
Which advice would you give to other professionals?
I can only say what works for me: to do exactly what you feel like doing. Go fully for what you feel like making, no compromises. Only you can do it your way. That is also what I find interesting in other artists: their way of looking at things. So it doesn’t mean you can not learn from others, on the contrary , all the time! It’s about your final work; there, for me, what makes it interesting is the individualistic part in it.
What are the challenges that we need to come to make about cultural entrepreneurship more accessible?
I think it would be a great start to teach children from a young age on, about the importance of arts and culture in our society. It should be integrated more in our educational system to think of culture as a very significant part of human society instead of entertainment. We are constantly surrounded by it, so why not educate more about it?
