by Helena Monniello

Artist Statement:

I have been around art since I was little, going to see exhibitions and museums with my grandparents very regularly, I like beautiful architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, music. I draw and paint often during my childhood. Little one, I admire Monet, Van Gogh.

The main theme of my work and we can say my artistic approach to the subjects dealt with is the human and human relations. In each of my activities, even in the past, it is always people who have motivated me. In many works, I develop the human relationship either from human to human, or from human to animal, or from human to nature.

These relationships are beautiful, complex, sometimes full of love, sometimes hard. This is what I put forward in my work, in an abstract or figurative way. The light and shed light on all of this matters a lot in my work. I can paint all this thanks to a great knowledge of myself. I have been doing work for several years that helps me understand all these relationships and mine as well. My more or less close entourage is key in my creation. Painting is for me a vital need and the means to bring to light my emotions. Through my work, I want to be as close as possible to everyone for what I want to express at a given time.

I sign LNA which is a diminutive of my first name in the initial. Since I was little, I have had this signature and have kept it. My paintings are recognizable by this graphic and geometric signature.

My work comes from the heart and I hope I can touch yours.

Education:

I chose to become an artist in 2017. I had started to paint actively since 2013, a need for expression following family events, things that I could not say needed to be expressed. I am a self-taught artist, I started by painting one canvas, two and then I took a liking to painting more and more. I had a first exhibition in 2016 in the city where I live in the Jura (Saint Claude) and as the public welcomed me very well, the idea began to germinate. So much so that I decided to become an artist and that I made my dream come true in September 2017.
I paint full time and devote myself completely to my passion. I always have this need to express things that touch me, often in the abstract and also in the figurative sometimes. With the abstract I let myself go, with the figurative, I refocus. I need these two facets, according to my inspiration, my desires.

I paint with acrylic paint, sometimes with aerosol and with posca from time to time. I like acrylic because it allows me thanks to its rapid drying to come back on a canvas quite quickly, I like to paint quickly also sometimes, I like all the possibilities offered by this medium. My painting is mostly abstract, but also figurative, I also like to mix the two styles. I paint with brushes, I have all kinds of all sizes and with knives. I use several different brands of paint because certain colors and textures (more or less thick, viscous or sticky ...) change depending on the supplier. I also spray paint, I like to use stencils to include layering effects. I also like to play on the transparency of the paintings by putting several layers of different colors and erasing with a rag to give a faded or aged effect. Finally I have fun with everything I can have on hand (plastic, bubble wrap, spatulas, flower pots and even my paint tubes can be used to paint).
Very often I have several paintings in progress at the same time, to give free rein to my inspiration, I never know what a painting will be like in advance, I start and the canvas guides me. Sometimes I leave a canvas for several weeks, so I walk past it, I look at it, I reflect… I work on the other works and come back to them when I feel it's time. A canvas can be done over several painting sessions, and sometimes all at once, as in my speed-painting series that I developed a short time ago. I always paint with music and it certainly influences the end result as well.

For my figurative paintings, I am inspired by the photos I take during walks, vacations, family reunions ...

I think I still have a lot to discover, I do a lot of testing and keep educating myself.

Exhibitions:

Year 2016
Caveau des Artistes in Saint Claude (39) Solo exhibition
Month of March 2016 as an amateur artist

Year 2018
Moirans en Montagne health center (39) Solo exhibition
March to May
Le Dôme media library at Saint Claude Solo Expo
Month of October

Year 2019
Valexpo in Oyonnax (01) Collective exhibition
From November 9 to 11 during the Salon des Arts organized by the Rotary Club of Oyonnax Plastics Vallée.
Sponsorship: Galerie Nuances et Lumière.
Montceau les Mines pier (71) Solo exhibition
From November 23 to December 14 at the pier bar gallery
Gerard LOYE room at Les Rousses station (39) Solo exhibition
from December 28 to January 4, 2020

Year 2020
Restaurant La Comédie Lons le Saunier (39) Solo exhibition
January 10 to March 10
Artists' café in Oyonnax (01) Solo exhibition
February 4 to March 3
Galerie 2023 Lons le Saunier (39) Collective exhibition
June 5 to July 2
CGFL (Cancer center) Dijon (21) Solo exhibition
From August 31 to October 2
Salon des Arts in Oyonnax (01) Collective exhibition
November 14 and 15
POSTPONED TO 2021

Year 2021
Small Gallery at 46 rue du pré in Saint Claude Solo Expo
From February 1st to 28th
Quai des Artistes Gallery at Nuits Saint Georges (21) Collective exhibition - Permanent artist
From February to the end of July
Aux Chateaux in Gueugnon (71) Solo exhibition
From April 23 to May 14
La Halle Ronde in Givry (71) Solo exhibition
August 17 to 29

Professional/Teaching Experience:

In parallel with the Montceau-les-Mines exhibition at the pier, I led 3 workshops with different audiences (parents-children, teenagers, adults). I was able to teach them different techniques that I use including knife painting and how to play with transparency.
I also led other workshops during the summer of 2020 in Montceau les mines with a teenage audience.

As soon as the sanitary situation allows, I will be able to start my painting lessons at the town hall of my village (Villard Saint Sauveur). It will be weekly classes and I also organize internships during school holidays for adults and children.

Artistic Influences:

I am really influenced and admiring the art of Pierre Soulages, I also like contemporary artists like Sandrot by his artistic style and also by his entrepreneurial side. I really like the work of Irina Laube. The landscapes, the abstract, the geometry, all the works of these artists are a great source of inspiration.

Tags:

abstrait, bleu, paysage abstrait, paysage urbain, mouvement, contemporain