10 Questions with Marika Mihalache

Marika Mihalache is a visual artist based in Barcelona with a diverse background in design, illustration, and painting, giving her a holistic vision of the creative practice.

Marika has been drawing since she was one year old and has participated in international exhibitions and live painting events. Frequently, she guides creative workshops in Europe, workshops that she designed to bring the arts closer to everyone.

www.marikamihalache.com | @marikamihalache

ARTIST STATEMENT

In her work, she is interested in the never-ending journey of unlearning, erasing, and rewriting what one would define as identity.

There is an inevitable alienation from oneself in the process of transformation and self-growth that motivates her to create artworks that support navigating and understanding this feeling.

Her pictures invite viewers to dive into their innate curiosity and sense of wonder while encouraging exploration and (self) reflection.

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell our readers a little bit about you. Who are you, and how did you start experimenting with images? 

My name is Marika, and I am a visual artist based in Barcelona, driven by curiosity and a sense of wonder. I have been drawing since I was a kid, with my first "mural" at two years old at my granny's place. You could leave me with paper and colors for hours, and I would be completely immersed in doodling and creating stories. Experimenting with images is part of me, drawing, photography, video, etc., it is so embedded in me that creativity is my main driving force, and I am absolutely in love with images in every form.

Why did you choose to pursue a career as an artist? 

The artist career chose me, as I was always choosing others: Interior Architect, Graphic Designer, Illustrator - still in the field but not going all in into visual art, sort of running away from it - maybe out of fear, maybe out of wanting to check other boxes that I thought are meant for me to be conquered at that time. When I decided to finally follow my heart and draw more, play with colors, and embrace this powerful calling, it was terrifying ( and still is ), but all the other (client/commercial) work I did previously helped somehow. My career as an artist is the consequence of my journey of finding my true self again and again, and a way of working on my gifts.

What is your favorite experience as an artist so far? 

I love people's reactions regarding my art: I like their enthusiasm as much as I like their uncomfortableness; I want to see whatever it provokes in them. I like people coming together to see art, debating, asking questions, etc, etc. I like the aliveness of the experience of art and my ability to create this space as an artist. And it makes me very happy when they make art part of their life because they interact with me in some form: through my pictures, workshops, or just by chatting about an exhibition.

Can you tell us about your creative process? What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

Discipline, mental health, and wellness are critical to me. Besides the painting studio hours, the experimental craft, and research, I dedicate time daily to meditation, working out, and checking in with my loved ones. I pay close attention to my surroundings: people, urban space, natural environment - which I love, and my inner world. I declutter anxiety and grow creativity. It's not easy, but it always pays off. I travel as much as possible and learn on the go, but I also need a routine and stable ground to create. The only way for me to access the right mind-space for my intuitive painting is discipline. For me, a project/picture grows in the background, and I know it's there and building up until it's ready to be put out in the world. I usually feel restless when I am about to paint a big picture, a sort of rush, a sort of "there is a thunderstorm" approaching kind of feeling. I tap into this sensation and try to find the mind-space to align with it - once I am there, I am in the flow, a rollercoaster! - and that's quite a ride, but a beautiful place to be in.

In your work, you focus on identity and the process of its creation. Where do you find your inspiration? 

The landscape of my inspiration comes from my life experiences, and it is mapping on the go, just like my paintings. It is a constant dialogue, try-outs, errors, and back to zero - allowing the freedom to play and the thrills and chills of never-endings and new beginnings. I love the physicality of the act of painting, I need to feel the heart pumping blood fast, so I sprinkle some "dance" between brush strokes, and you can see that in the aesthetics of the works - strong, spontaneous traces. I am particularly interested in the constant search for identity in the continuous change of the mechanism of life, human interaction, and an inevitable alienation from oneself in transformation and self-growth. As an ex-pat, these feelings are amplified by the rupture between what one identified as identity and the challenges of creating a new life. To this day, I have more questions than answers. That's why I am open to challenges and experiences of unlearning, erasing, writing, and rewriting/repainting, so I express these ideas on canvas while finding my own answers and hopefully inspire others to ask themselves those questions.

In your drawings, you mix both soft and bolder colors. How do you choose your colors, and what do they represent for you? 

For me, my colors are not only colors, but feelings, experiences, and memories - both strong and soft, a sense of bold nostalgia that comes through as a brush stroke, a color wash, "smoke," or a splash... I intend for them to tell a story, to evoke a moment. They are as mixed, intense and confusing, and layered as emotions. I love the moon, the sky, the stars, the sea, the mountains. I use colors I find in the spectacular multicolor sunsets over Barcelona after a crazy day, the golden sunrise and the sparks over the infinite blues and greens of the Mediterranean while the breeze is caressing my skin, the blue sky up in the Alps while cruising with my snowboard, the immersive pink-orange sunset when surfing at Costa da Caparica ( Portugal ), the deep blue of my lover's eyes, etc. you get the picture. These vivid moments and encounters with nature profoundly impact my color palette and the emotions I wish to convey. So many of my pictures ask for pigment, as for swirls and vigorous strokes and numerous colors mixed, yet lots of them linger between the dreamy light state and the freedom found in their play with the whiteness of the canvas. This creates an intriguing dynamic and energetic quality to my body of work while it reflects the complexity and layered nature of emotions, as well as the interplay between vibrant expression and subtle introspection. 

How has your art evolved over the years? Was there any particular event that influenced how you make art? 

I am grateful that my journey as an artist has undergone radical transformations over the years. Without these changes, I would have questioned if something was amiss. Recently, I had the opportunity to exhibit an older body of work from a more abstract period of my artistic exploration. Initially, I faced challenges when discussing it, and I even felt a hint of resistance about showcasing it. However, I was reminded of a version of myself— a very young and ambitious Marika —and the experiences she navigated during that time. In embracing this perspective, a captivating narrative unfolded. These shifts in my art reflect my growth and willingness to explore new creative territories, and each phase holds value in shaping the artist I am today. My artworks are my life experiences; it's a snapshot of a specific time frame where I was feeling and thinking in a certain way. What I am now, and my art shows, is a more mature work-in-progress puzzle made out of all these snapshots and put together more attentively and gently than before. And hopefully, it will keep changing.   
There were a couple of life-art-changing events, but my snowboard accident that broke my spine is worth mentioning here. First, it awakened an ambitious beast inside of me that put in all the hard work of recovering from such an injury. Second, it connected me with my body - relearning how to walk, feeling where the pain is, appreciating everything it was doing for me instead of beating myself up, getting in tune with my mind, letting go, visualizing the good days back on my board, and reconnecting me with my loving family. Third, it helped me heal my broken heart, too, and find hope again because, for a while, I would not even allow myself to dream as there was only pain. Another significant event was meeting my partner, a fantastic artist and the kindest human being I know, from whom I learn every day. He taught me how to really look at a picture, and he taught me patience and the power of observation. This profoundly impacted my artistic journey and made me push my boundaries while rediscovering the colors and vibrancy of the world. All this led to an interest in drawing/painting entangled characters with deformed limbs and lost gazes, connected and disconnected, comfortable and uncomfortable - a series I am still figuring out.

Is there anything else you would like to experiment with, in terms of your art career? 

The best is yet to come! I hope to get invited to another art residency and draw as much as possible on every possible surface. Going big: murals, windows, spaceships, and collaborating with brands that align with my artistic vision and values. I want to learn as much as possible about colors and techniques to completely immerse in this beautiful Universe of infinite possibilities called art.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about? 

I am working on a series of big-format paintings I would like to show by the end of the year in Barcelona. Showing these artworks is an act of display of vulnerability and strength at the same time, but I feel I owe my adoptive city one and offer this experience to all the lovely people I know here. Also, I just launched the website for The Curious Workshop - a creative journey within ( www.curiousworkshop.art ), a practice I designed for wellness and helping people get in touch with their creativity. My intention is to grow the project and facilitate workshops all over the world.

Finally, share something you would like the world to know about you. 

Well, I'll be completely honest—I tend to express myself in ways that some might consider cheesy. However, these expressions stem from a profound self-awareness that I strive to put into my artwork. Drawing is not just a passion for me; it's a way of life. I am filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for being able to pursue this as my livelihood and for the unwavering support of my collectors, family, friends, and partner. With my art, I hope to reciprocate even a fraction of the immense joy it brings me by sharing my gifts with others.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.