One of the true marks of an artist is their ability to engulf you into their world. We would like to think that art is a vast landscape with various unique regions that are governed by a particular genius. Day in and day out we stumble through these regions, gathering odd experiences and tall tales along the way. This week we journey into the Providence of Eugenia ruled by Eugenia Loli and her blatantly creative imagination.
In this world, gravity is neutral, sex is quotidian, and vintage is omnipresent. Both a freelance filmmaker and a collage artist, Loli creates vivid collages that gives light to the meaning of perception. In fact, she takes full advantage of the laws of perception, bending them in order to voice her most cherished opinions. We caught up with the Athens born artist to chat about her work.
On source of inspiration:
“The misery and unfairness of this world, primarily. If there was true happiness in the cosmos there would be no true art. In most of my artworks I’m trying to describe various issues that bother me, and hopefully trying to change things for the better by making more people aware of these issues. A few times my artworks are purely aesthetic though, without a deeper meaning. I’m trying to make fewer of those.
Creatively-wise, Magritte for his artistic elegance, Julien Pacaud for his narrative style, Banksy for his messages, and Cur3es for his extra-ordinary compositions have been my biggest influences. Lo-fi/synthpop modern indie musicians have also been inspirational to me, since I try to do the visual equivalent of noise and reverb. For example, while my work is digital, I try to keep my cuts imperfect, and often even deteriorate some of my elements’ visual quality on purpose.”
What do you want your audience to take away from your work?
“The story and message. Most of my collages feature a mini-situation. The title, and the visuals that often feature some motion, help create a narrative in the viewer’s mind. Humans are not very receptive when art tries to be preachy, but when there’s some entertaining, funny/witty story behind it (even if the viewer has to make up most of the plot), they take it with them. A good story always strengthens the various messages.”
On reoccurring themes:
“So far I have had a number of feminine/sexual themes, but that’s only temporary. Socio-political issues of today and the near future is where I ultimately want to go. For example, I want to explore and speak out about things like the fall of freedom in the Western world in the last few years, the failures of copyright & patent laws, corporate dominance over our politicians, as well as explore futuristic issues, like sexual relationships with androids, genetic manipulation etc. I’m only at the beginning of what I’d like to say.”
Quiet Lunch is a grassroot online publication that seeks to promote various aspects of life and culture with a loving, but brute, educational tinge. When we say, “Creative Sustenance Daily,” we mean it.