A Moment with Barcelona-based Figurative Artist Paolambina

Hi Paola— Tell us a little about you!

My name is Paola, I have Spanish and French roots and I spent my childhood living between Barcelona and Paris. I graduated in Bachelor Business Administration in Barcelona and I have been working in Technology Management Consulting since then. Combining it with my painting career hasn’t been easy, it required a lot of task planning, sleeping less, and working really hard during the weekends. But in the end, it’s what made me happy. I need both worlds. Painting is like eating, it is not questionable. It is the way I communicate with myself and learn from it. I can spend hours in silence just listening to my thoughts, challenging myself and facing different emotions through the different stages of the painting. On the other hand, consulting brings me a lot of movement, creativity and diversity. I am passionate about technology and the evolution of it so I would say it is my yin and yang.

What led you to pursue figurative painting?

My grandmother was a Fine Art painter and I believe she helped me a lot opening my creativity and taught me to let it flow while I was a kid. I don’t remember my life without drawing or painting. Figurative painting was not a rational decision, it was more of an attraction, each body, each face is a completely new world, I find it one of the most beautiful creations in nature and with every painting I feel closer to understand the proportion of its beauty. I feel that while some painting are planned and have a story before starting the painting, others must be understood once they are finished. The subconscious can be really powerful and letting your hand paint what it feels without a real plan it’s the most accurate check on your actual emotions. Therefore, over the last years, the representation of emotions into figurative paintings has taken a bigger place in the artworks I produce.

Has living and working in Barcelona influenced your style and inspirations?

I believe every place you live brings you something that stays in you like a sand castle, where you put layers little by little. Due to my job in consulting I had to travel a lot around Europe and I always tried to take with me something special from every city. I remember the first time I visited Florence, I was there studying in an art academy and despite it was a shorter experience than my life in Barcelona it is one of the major impacts I can remember. There was so much art everywhere, that I felt I hadn’t enough eyes to absorb all of its beauty, sometimes I was just sitting there for hours trying to take mental pictures of what I was discovering, others I had to use the camera because it was too much…

Can you tell us some of your favourite spots around Barcelona? 

Barcelona is a city that despite being always alive it has some spots where you can travel back in time or feel you are completely alone in the city. The gothic quarter is a fantastic place to get lost and discover the streets without a specific plan. My favourite spot is the Plaça de Sant Felip Neri, a hidden square that is always silent and has a kind of magical vibe. In the walls of the church you can still see the marks of a bomb that exploded during Civil War in 1938. I personally love to be surrounded by nature so there is some of those places in Barcelona that I feel are perfect for painting, writing, biking, such as the Montjuic mountain, which is close to the sea and from which you can have a perfect panoramic view of Barcelona or el Parc Guell which was designed by the architect Antoni Gaudi. In terms of experiences, Catalunya is really rich and diverse in folklore cultural celebrations, so if you ever travel to Barcelona it is worth checking which celebrations are taking place during those days and go visit them. In Catalunya things are really close to each other so you don’t have to stick only to Barcelona City, there is many villages around that have very beautiful cultural celebrations, my favorite is Human Towers, which is the most powerful thing I have ever seen in terms of effort, companionship and passion.

What are some of your favorite paintings you’ve created so far?

The ones I feel more connected to are the ones where the preparation has been as complex as the execution of the painting. Sometimes I’ve been designing the idea of a painting for weeks, changed it hundred times, until I get visually a close representation of what I had in mind, what I felt or what I saw in a dream. I think that a canvas is an extremely powerful tool to tell stories that can stick in your retina and make a big impact. Those are my favorite ones, the ones that were created with a story behind, where the canvas shows elements that explain this story but it is never so explicit to have to stick to that meaning, leaving the viewer the freedom to discover or construct their own story. I think you cannot have a canvas hanging in your wall that doesn’t mean anything to you!

How do you feel the creative culture scene is right now in Barcelona? 

In Barcelona there are many artists from all ages crafting their ideas and making a living from it. This includes not only painters but also potters, sculptors, jewelers, fashion designers, illustrators… From a painting perspective there is quite a lot of places to learn, especially figurative and realism art academies and there is a diverse museum activity which includes also a lot of artwork from living artists. I have the feeling that there is room for improvement regarding physical art galleries as their activity has not grown so much compared to years ago. I think digital era is changing a lot the way we consume art and as artists we are not limited to the place we live anymore. We can discover amazing artists from all over the world and shop from them which I find extremely enriching. Therefore, I think that the overall local culture scene will have to evolve to be able to reach and connect to the younger generation. And this potentially means a higher rotation in art, where people want a canvas for few months/years and then change, rather than investing in something that it is supposed to last in your walls all your life.

Who are some of your favorite artists, and what specifically are you most inspired by when creating?

When I was a child my mother used to take me to museums very often (even If it was not always the perfect plan for a kid) I think there were many things I didn’t understood at that time but somehow they were retained in my brain and came back later in time. I feel a close connection with Renaissance, Baroque and Surrealism and my artwork is indirectly influenced by certain elements or details from these artistic movements. I greatly admire Artemisia Gentileschi, Botticelli, Dali, Mantegna, El Bosco… The list is endless! On the other hand I am also inspired by many living artists, such as Guillermo Lorca, Casey Baugh, Antonio Lopez, Gonzalo Goytisolo or Roberto Ferri. Certainly, Internet is like having thousands of galleries at your fingertips which is a really inspiring tool to be up to date on the evolution of art worldwide.