Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabella Lares
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My mom kept the first drawing I ever made, it was a chicken almost the size of the paper made of geometric shapes. And even though I was two years old, I can vividly remember handing out the drawing to my mom and seeing the expression on her face. That was the moment I knew a picture could evoke feelings that I had never seen before. After that moment, I couldn’t stop creating. I was either drawing the family portraits around the house, or drawing my favorite characters while they talked to me on the TV or even making robots out of Tic Tac containers so they could play along with my Little Pet Shop army.
One day as me and my family were getting out of church, I had the courage to check out what the stairs in the hallway could lead me to, I always wondered what was up there anyway. Little did I know it was in an art academy, above the church? I would’ve never expected it but I was so happy about my new discovery. So at the age of six, I started taking painting classes at the Iglesia San Antonio in Valencia, Venezuela. We would pick out a reference picture from the respective class-level basket and get started with our paintings. There were professors going around “in case of emergency” as I liked to call it, that assisted us if we had questions about our process. I didn’t really like asking for help because they would try to paint on my canvas, I could feel my blood boiling whenever they leaned in and did it without asking first. At the age of nine, they transferred me to the Adult classes on Fridays where actual lecture classes were given and the difficulty of the reference pictures increased. That is how Fridays became my favorite day of the week, the day I looked forward to the most. Always looking forward to going up those stairs and keep working on my painting, or even better, starting a new one.
I never knew art was such an important element in my life until I lost it after I moved to the United States at the age of 13. I dropped everything that was art related. I lost interest in a lot of things, all that mattered was learning English and not failing my classes. It was hard for me to get back to that feeling of fulfillment that painting brought me. I didn’t get that sensation again until my senior year of high school when I decided to take an AP studio class.I wanted a challenge, to know if that fire was still burning inside of me. Half through the school year, now 17, I considered taking the risk of pursuing a professional career in the painting field. I discarded my original plan years in advance of becoming a marine biologist, and there is not a single day that has passed where I have regretted this decision. I know that painting is something that feeds my soul. It’s something that I feel like I have to do to stay happy and to stay loud. My paintings are my biggest source of expression, even my voice if you will.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My eyebrows raised involuntarily as I read this question lol. It was not a smooth road, many bumps could only be overcome with time. Waiting was my best bet. College was not a priority for me after graduating high school and the thought of proposing the idea to my parents filled me with anxiety. I didn’t want to bring more money problems into the house. Moving to a different country with only $1,000 into my uncle’s house was hard enough, but leaving our lives behind was a sacrifice my parents made to give me and my sister a better future since Venezuela seemed to worsen by the day. We didn’t even know we would stay here for this long, yet we’re still waiting for an answer to be able to go back to our country. Maybe staying trapped here in the US is part of my artistic journey, as if the world is holding me hostage here for a little more until my career truly begins. Turns out the risk was worth taking when speaking to my parents, they believe more in me than myself, and everything that I have lived until now I owe it to them.
Due to our situation here, there were a lot of resources that were accessible to me, such as FAFSA. But funny enough, my application wouldn’t get approved in any previous schools I applied to. Until I remembered SCAD could be an option as well, I had never heard of that school until I met my two friends at an ice skating rink, they seemed pretty stoked about going so why not give it a chance? Surprisingly, SCAD was the only school that approved my FAFSA application as a legal non-citizen and the school that offered to pay half of my tuition. My time at Savannah College of Art and Design has made me connect with wonderful faculty and students that granted me a different and bigger understanding of what art truly means. I love being surrounded by people as passionate about painting as I am.
Every day I’m deeply inspired to keep going and keep sharing what goes through my head with the world. I’ve learned to appreciate my ability to communicate thoughts through visuals that can be enjoyed by others, or maybe not, as long as they can be seen by others. That’s good enough for me. I’d say the road is not so smooth just yet, given the fact that I will spend the next 10 years of my life repaying my student loans. But that’s ok, what matters is the present and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Plus as I always say, it’s a problem for future me! I choose to be happy now!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In my work, I am motivated by random occurrences in my life experiences. I like to combine different aspects of myself in absurd schemes with realistic elements. My paintings are a representation of my inner monologue; inspired by sexuality, gender, childhood experiences, and made-up universes. In a way, I like to shatter any idea of accurate depictions of reality, and I do so by combining high realistic portraits with unrealistic hypothetical scenarios to sort of explain how my brain interprets current life experiences. It has been three years since I started my journey of self-portraiture, and now, I have created this sort of archive of my teenage years coming to an end. I often get asked why I choose to paint myself so much, and honestly, the reason is that I don’t think I’m a real person at times. I think of how I am just a made up character in my head, and painting myself with this mindset of dissociation helps me cope with my feelings. I’m not big on words, in fact, it is hard for me to even begin to define my work because I know it will change. It is constantly changing, as things continue to progress within myself and my everyday life. However, there is something so special about being able to remember exactly what was happening in my life just by taking a glance at my painting. I believe that is what sets me apart from others, no one has lived in my brain for as long as I have. I never want to forget who I am and what I was living at certain points that led me to be where I stand. I think of my self-portraits as time capsules; they serve as chronological documentation of how my self-perception changes over time. I don’t wanna take it too seriously, so I mix it up with absurd interpretations and subversions of reality and the cherry on top would be adding a bold humorous touch.
I specialize in acrylic paint. Acrylics were the first medium I ever used on a canvas when I was 6, and I believe that’s the reason why they’re so special to me, since they are the medium that introduced me to painting. Oils always gave me a headache anyway. One of my favorite things about painting with acrylics is how forgiving they are. I can be incredibly impatient and I am constantly changing decisions as I work, and acrylics help to compensate for this issue. I discovered that I enjoy my creative process more by studying my reference pictures beforehand, and to then translate them to the canvas with what my brain remembers. It seems as though I’m turning my eyes into a camera lens, letting people see the image my brain prints. This process of painting almost from memory gives me endless possibilities and the chance to loosen up a lot more. It also allows me to think about a million things and nothing at the same time, while I enter this loop of absorbing and translating an accurate feeling to what I’m depicting through my painting. I noticed my use of implied details that I thought was one of my flaws for not looking exactly like the reference but time taught me it is now one of my strengths, especially with how fast I’ve gotten at painting now. I am proud of the artist that I’m starting to become, the artist that allows their soul to shine through a canvas, and how others are able to recognize my brushstrokes. Nothing makes me more happy and proud that others are able to recognize my brushstrokes.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
If you are starting out on your artistic journey just know you are braver and stronger than you think. This is not an easy path, but with dedication and love for your practice you will achieve your goals. When your brain tries to play that trick on you of constantly comparing yourself with other artists, remind yourself with the basics, we are all different people. If you try to imitate others, how will you ever discover who you are and what you are trying to communicate? No one is as unique as you, believe me! I know it can be hard to believe in yourself and sometimes the voice can get too loud, but you have to go back to your roots, remember why you love painting. Connect with your younger self and let them take over. I wish I knew how important it is to not put any sort of expectations on yourself and not care what others think!!! There is no better feeling than being excited to paint what YOU want to paint; smiling when you sit in front of your canvas eager to put some brushstrokes down, unaware of where those same brushstrokes will take you. Just remember how we live our lives in widening circles. Follow what makes your heart happy and that noble act will lead youtube to beautiful unexpected places.
Pricing:
- $555
- $1,111
- $2,500
- $4,444
- $999
Contact Info:
- Website: https://laresian.bigcartel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laresian
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/laresiann
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@laresian
