Interview with Roxana Werner
Roxana Werner paints on different surface using oil and mixed techniques. Her work is developed by investigating the history and culture of different places that inspired her. She said: “When I stand before the canvas, I feel like a writer whit a blank page. My painting is committed narration; it does not hide neither the dark nor light side of reality. I developed my work following a specific theme. Each cycle lasts of years until the moment there is nothing more to say. Then, another phase begins”. She has held important group and individual exhibitions, such as “The Why of Valparaiso” at UNESCO in Paris, France. Her work can be found in private collections and prestigious international art books. About her artwork: Marta Puig (Editor-in-Chief and art historian at Contemporary Art Curator, Stockholm, Sweden) wrote: “Roxana Werner is an artist specializing in realistic painting in oils. Despite the extraordinary technical approach to her work, she is a highly personal and expressive artist. Her artworks have a mixture of realism and dream-like sequencing that is pretty great to take in.”
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us how you started in the arts? and your first experience in art-making?
I am Roxana Werner, a visual artist. My first experience working in art was as a textile designer. I specialized in the creation of tapestry using the Batik technique, which is part of Javanese art.
How do you go about beginning a new piece? Do you have an idea already in mind, or do you start working with materials or sketches to find the departure point?
I don’t work with artwork in an isolated way, I start a project based on a determined subject that is born from an idea. This idea that I develop in several aspects starting from a substantiation, is expressed by a group of different artworks that constitutes a whole.
My projects throughout my life are related to one another, and the realization of each one of them requires several years of work.
When do you think your most prolific time of day or week is?
Is there any difference in the best times to work or when the ideas or inspirations are most vivid?
The most prolific time of the day is the morning, but when I was young it was at night. The ideas or inspiration can often come spontaneously. When this happens, I write them down and draw sketches. The interesting part is to embody them, but ideally within the schedule established by me to work, which is when I feel more vital.
What is a barrier you as an artist overcame? Is there anything that enabled you to develop your work as an artist in your life?
The barriers that are constituted as a challenge when you make the decision to enter the world of art, the difficulties that I’ve had had in my country - Chile - to earn a place to exhibit my art work, which has overwhelmed me, as I have been recognized internationally for what I am very grateful.
What allowed me to develop my work as an artist was the discipline, consistency, working hard and above all, my deep commitment.
Did you have an idea of what you wanted to create right from the beginning?
At the beginning, my first preoccupation was to learn the depth of the academic techniques. Having the tools to express myself, I felt very secure to start the search for what inspired me to create.
What is the meaning or creative inspiration for your work? We’re curious what the narrative or story is to what you are producing?
The meaning or creative inspiration is reflected in the different projects formed each one by a big amount of individual artworks. Each project corresponds to different stages, they are independent among them.
Each creation is equivalent to a book to me, as it is formed by a “painted narrative” based on experiences in situ.
Nowadays, for four years now, I am working on a project called: “Más Allá y Más Acá de la Frontera” (Beyond and near the Frontier), which is inspired by trips made through Asia, India, Morocco and my country. The storytelling, essentially speaking, is the role of devotion as a common ground in the different cultures and religions.
Besides your artworks, are there any other things in life that your voice as an artist may consider vital or valuable? What makes you joyful and creative, in other words?
In my creation as a visual artist, it has been fundamental to my research and spiritual work. Therefore, the practice of Zen Buddhism, which started 15 years ago, has been vital for me.
Are there any exhibitions or places that people can see these beautiful creations in person soon? Anything on the horizon?
There are various Virtual Exhibitions that I have been participating in lately. But my artwork will be exhibited presidentially in September 2021 in Volta Basel in Switzerland, and in October 2021 in the next Bienal in Florence, Italy.
