grab your glass and let’s talk art with Haitian artist artlaurea
“Art is my drug in a way!”
When someone sees an ArtLaurea painting… You can expect lots of color, details, immaculate blending….and so much more. Being exposed to art as a young girl back in Haiti is partially the reason Laurenee Gauvin, better known as ArtLaurea is the artist that she is today. To celebrate Haitian Flag day (May 18th) and Haitian Heritage Month C.V.C Entertainment sat down with the artist to hear her share a little bit of her story.
At what point did you realize you wanted to pursue a career as an artist?
Umm, I wouldn’t say there was like a specific moment. I think as I got better at it, I realized people valued it more than I was..so in my head I thought why not live off of it. It wasn’t something that I planned to do full-time, at all.
So would you say it was like a hobby that turned into a passion, then turned into a paycheck?
No, I wouldn’t say a hobby, I would say it was my therapy. It was my way of dealing with things that I was going through and I think since an early age or at least as far as I could remember my dad was an artist so I watched him paint my whole life…well not my whole life… as long as he was alive. I think early on in my life I was exposed to art, so it was easy to continue it but I just never took it serious. It was always something I did to deal with my feelings. And then my family really supported me which was really cool because most Haitian people are so focused on saying “You have to become a doctor” “You have to become this.” But I think my family saw in me something that I didn’t even see in myself…which was that I was talented and they wanted to invest in me. I remember spending at least $500 buying supplies, so that was kinda the beginning of me even having tools to do it.
Your original pieces tend to include more than one image and are often times multi-dimensional..what’s the story behind your style of art and those paintings?
First, as an artist, you have to understand every artist is different. But to me, myself when I have a painting I just feel like a God in my world. I can create what I want, and take out what I want. I also include a lot of women. You’ll barely see me do men unless I have a commission piece. But most of the things that I create are women and they always have something with them, it’s almost as if I don’t want them to be lonely. I always think about space-wise what characters will live on my canvas and me not wanting to leave it empty in that world. They have to have something to attach themselves to in the painting. Sometimes finding what compliments that one thing that I have on the piece is one of my hardest processes. Let’s say I have one image, finding something that matches with it and makes sense with it artistically and mentally is one of the hardest things. So I do that cause I don’t want them to be lonely.
Where would you say you get the most inspiration?
The daily struggles and the daily things that I go through in life. Emotions. The daily struggles and emotions. I have some of the pieces that I create and when I look at them it brings me right back to that space and the time. So I think I create, based on how I feel.
As an entrepreneur/artist… What’s a typical day for you like? (During our convo, Laurea mentioned that there’s a part of her daily routine that she doesn’t really want to formally mention. So we decided to label that “X”)
Oh God, I don’t think I have a typical day… It also depends because I have a daughter. And now with the Coronavirus, my schedule is kind of different because she is home now working too. But let’s say I wake up at 8 in the morning that day.
Girl all I do is paint so that’s my day… Depending on if I have shipments I may have to go to FedEx. Like right now I do have to go to FedEx to figure out some things because I’m shipping out my t-shirts tomorrow, you know? Like a side business… Let’s just say it’s 8 pm now.
“I could paint for at least 12 to 14 hours a day. Or sometimes 18.”
That’s my day. I could paint for at least 12 to 14 hours a day. Or sometimes 18. When I was doing the Kobe Bryant, Nipsey, and Pop paintings I definitely was painting 19 hours a day and only getting like 6-7 hours a week of sleep. It’s very f-cked up because there’s a crash. When you don’t allow your body to really rest properly, everything gets messed up.. you start breaking out, *laughs* you start losing it. The reality is people don’t understand that as much as your mind might be tired and your brain might be tired, the events and moments that are going on in the country don’t stop for you. So when Kobe died, if I didn’t do it right away it would have been too late. You know what I mean? It’s unfortunate to say, but you gotta jump in the moment. So it doesn’t matter how tired I am, what I have going on, or how painful it was…I had to make it happen in that timeline.
So these are deadlines you set for yourself?
Yes, those are the deadlines that I have to set. Imagine being the boss of your own mind and being in control. But still moving around with what’s going on in the world.
“Imagine being the boss of your own mind and being in control. But still moving around with what’s going on in the world.”
There’s a saying that very talented artists have wild imaginations… Would you agree?
Oh Yes. Very wild and very unlimited. Another thing is people don’t understand how deep you can get into your craft. Say me right? I have a project that I’m working on and I love it. Not to say that I don’t love my other projects. But at the moment I love this one. Now I’m tired since I’ve been working on it all day. I am going to sleep. While asleep, I’m still painting that painting in my dream and I’m still feeling tired in my dream. And then I’m picturing how the painting is going to look in my dream, so by the time I get to the reality of things… I already pictured how it’s going to look cause the whole time in my dream this is what I’ve been working on. On other occasions…sometimes I’ll take a nap and because the whole time I’m asleep, I’m still painting it can feel like I didn’t nap at all. I’ll still feel so tired.
I have dreams where I don’t want to think of a painting and my body is telling me “no, no paintings…give your mind a rest.” As I’m saying that to myself in my dream every time I touch something it drips and turns into paint… It’s almost like a dark fantasy.
And this started happening since you started painting…or…?
No, it started when I started being more into it.
So, I have to ask…If you weren’t painting, what do you think your career path would be?
OH MY GOD! There are so many things! I think I’m super talented! I think I’m so super talented. There are so many things that I’m good at. Even as I’m doing these things I always tell myself “Girl that could have been it.” It’s almost to the point that, at some point in my life I would feel comfortable… not giving up painting but no longer painting for money. I wouldn’t stop making money, but painting wouldn’t be my main source of income. I would be able to paint like once a year or every six months because I’d have other things to fall back on. I think I could have been a good psychologist and a great cook.
I think a great cook and chef go very well together. Like the owner of a big bistro…
Mhmm! Like a restaurant owner. When I say cook, I mean like I own my own restaurant and I cook there. Epa tankou mwen wal fe manje lakay moun non. (It’s not like I’ll be making food for other people, in their homes) *Laughs*
What advice would you give to other independent artists struggling…whether it be struggling to get noticed or struggling to make their passion their paycheck?
1. Believe in yourself. I know it’s so cliche, so cliche. But the reality is the moment you don’t you can’t control your mind and you have to be able to control your mind. Because you need self-confidence and self-worth. Tout bagay sa yo si ou pa genyen (All of these things, if you don’t have them) there’s a lot of places you won’t walk in.
2. Be original. Meaning when it comes to art specifically. I don’t look at other artists’ stuff. This might be a good or a bad thing…I guess to people. But to me I’m so into myself with my craft I feel like when I see other people’s things it might make me mad to see that I’m not at their level yet or that that person got there and they’re not at my level. So instead of going through all of that, I’ve allowed my own work to be my ladder, my own standards, and my own goals. When I look at my stuff and I see what I can do and what I’ve accomplished it makes me feel really good. I don’t look at someone else’s work and compare. So I think the person shouldn’t compare themselves to another artist.
3. Don’t be ashamed of what you look like naked. Don’t be afraid to show your struggles because most people will take advantage of what you’re scared of and will see through you. So keep yourself level-headed and I mean as an artist because, as an artist, we’re sensitive as f-ck. If your mind is not ready to be an artist, it doesn’t matter what you have going on that canvas – it won’t reach the people.
4. Last, don’t let not having money stop you. Use not having money to be the source of motivation.
Lastly, if you could collab with any other artist… who would the person be?
Deceased or alive? My dad, Picasso, and Basquiat. For Basquiat, I would ask him when did the art get so dark, cause it got dark for him. The drugs and everything else. Art is my drug in a way. I would ask him, what pushed you to do something that was so much riskier? I love my mind and how smart I am. I’ll be so sad if I wasn’t there (mentally) and that’s my biggest fear, in life. You know how people ask what’s your biggest fear? My biggest fear is not being able to control my mind. Not being in control of me.
**Bonus question: Just for fun what’s your favorite drink or champagne?
I don’t drink. At all. It’s just not for me. But I do love comedy, drama, and romance movies. When it comes to colors Black, Teal and Magenta are my favorite.
To check out some of her work be sure to visit her website artlaurea.com and follow her on Instagram @ArtLaurea.
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