Today for Monday’s Curated Collection art feature I thought we’d do something a little different! Lori-Ann Bellissimo – an internationally successful abstract artist – has graciously taken the time to do a little interview with me to give us a behind-the-scenes look at her process and the woman behind the paintings.

1. You recently spent quite a bit of time in Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur. How has your time in residence and traveling in Asia influenced your work?

I’ve done three residences in Malaysia and had solo exhibits in both Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and I’ve been part of many group exhibits there with two different galleries. Right now my work is in a group exhibition at The Gallery @ Star Hill in KL. My time in Asia has always served me well with new experiences in tropical settings and the fast paced art world of Asia. I am very grateful to be a foreign, female successful artist in that part of the world and it’s garnered many privileges from sold out exhibitions, to having many prestigious clients and collectors.

Originally I kept shipping works over to Asia from Toronto, commissions and so forth, and with everything selling quickly it was logical to move there for a while over a five year period. From my very first visit, I sensed these opportunities to be rare so my work developed from my experiences there, first by mapping out the ancient, present day and future skies and constellations of the locale and crating works in challenging methods. For example, the series “Site Specific” included works on plexiglass which I hand carved zodiacal symbols into which glow in the dark while an abstract painting in layers of resin atop these carvings can be viewed by day.

 had never had collectors knocking on my studio door at 3am vying to purchase my next completed work before anyone else saw it. My second series done in Asia was entitled “Trust Is Earned” and it coincided with personal decisions to be more discerning as to who I interact with and led me to quite a spiritual (not religious) door which I consider to be the greets gift as an Artist. Of course all my work has to do with childhood influences such as Galileo or Leonardo and astrology and now I’m painting astrological charts for people as part of my on-going series “Galileo’s Assistant.” In fact I just completed an astro chart painting for one very famous fashion designer!

2. Your work has a great deal of layering of mixed media and colour using resin to build incredible depth. Can you describe your process for us? Is it one of intuition or of strategic planning? How do you cast the vision for each of your pieces?

My materials are all ecologically safe and I keep them close to me as I’ve had them formulated to my needs over years. I like to say I work in literal Photoshop, as I paint and lay down a layer of resin and paint some more and so on to create depth which unfortunately does not show up so well on the web. Collectors who buy online are always well-surprised by what they receive so this is pleasant to know. I don’t sketch or plan too much, usually planning goes as far as a concept or materials or a basic method but really I hone my intuition and let myself be guided when I’m working. It’s a real form of meditation if you will.

3. How do you know when each piece is complete?

Ah, this is certainly a tried and true question! I’m painting even when I’m not physically in front of my work. I’m thinking about colour and so on when I’m on a bus or walking by some textiles in a shop window. The colour of pavement can hold my attention and I think how to mix that certain shade…So there really isn’t an answer to your question, I just know. Sometimes I keep a work around for months before realizing I’m satisfied with it. Other times I try to leave one painting before it’s done and move onto the next to see if i can widen my scope and then I jump back to the first. There’s no formula thank goodness as I’m a fan of unlimited living not restriction.

4. Which artists have had the greatest influence on you? Whose work do you most admire? 

When I moved to Milan before starting a studio up in Rome, I was alone and spent many days and nights with my favourites: Leonardo and Galileo with a lot of Fellini thrown in of course! They were my first Italian ‘friend’s. I actually prefer music to art and right now I’m being fed African music and somehow I think it’s organically linked to the graphic design elements in my latest series ‘the Bigger Picture” which I showed last March with De Luca Fine Art in Toronto. The other day someone reminded me of Bridget Riley so I like her. I like Cecily Brown and of course Ai Wei Wei…Joseph Beuys is someone I’ve admired for his work and life since my teen years. It’s a real gamut of love when it comes to artists I like. In Italy I saw Lucio Fontana and fell in love. I like architecture very much, Jean Nouvel and Lord Norman Foster being my favourites. I’ve been influenced by my surroundings so the idea of ‘place’ is big my heart. I also like James Turrell. His light installations are beautiful experiences!

5. What are your 5 favourite cities in the world, and what do you love about them?

Rome is pretty much tops with me. There’s nothing like taking the subway to a stop called Collosseo and low and behold The Colosseum is right there! I could spend a lifetime there and have a real melancholic sense about it each time I see an Italian film or a TVO documentary showing the streets or gardens of Rome. I love beaches and seasides too. Italy in fact with it’s lovely seaside towns of Calabria and up and down the coasts make more than 5! Of course I love Kuala Lumpur with its chaos and grandeur all at the same time. Right now I have my sites on cities of France and I want to go to various towns in Brazil but I’m loving Toronto right now. It’s a good place to be and I’m very appreciative of what Canada offers me. I also love San Francisco, New York, Barcelona and Dubai!

6. What do you do as an artist to recharge and get inspired?

Only once I’ve been truly exhausted after making 21 paintings in KL over a three month period. Then I went off to an island and took some deep water swims and had a few drinks! Otherwise I’ve come to the point where I am able to draw on set backs not only pleasure for inspiration. This is my greatest accomplishment in many ways. I like to live where I work so even if I’m not painting long hours I am always looking at my work in progress. I do a lot of swimming and take deep breaths and a glass of wine helps too.

I hope Lori-Ann’s process and her beautiful paintings have inspired you. Her work is available through my favourite Toronto gallery, Art Interiors, and I strongly encourage you to give them a visit to take a look at Lori-Ann’s paintings in person. The photos really don’t begin to do them justice!

Thank you so much for sharing with us, Lori-Ann!

xo
s.