10 Questions with Paola Nicotra

Paola Nicotra was born in 1983 in Sicily, Italy, where she studied and worked with communication and foreign languages. In 2011 she moved to Piedmont where she now lives. Over the years, she has exhibited her works in Italy, Spain and the UK.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

Paola Nicotra is a self-taught artist. She likes to explore the possibilities offered by different materials such as raw jute used without primer, or wood waste, and anti-rust paint. Her works are composed of several materials such as clay, putty, sand, and anything that can create thickness. She wants thickness because she thinks that the unconscious has to express itself on a higher and thicker level than the simple two-dimensional canvas. She wants her paintings to be touched, explored, and known not only with the eyes but also with the touch so that people can come into contact with the interior elements there.

Paintings become a kind of meeting point between the exterior and interior dimensions. The greater the urgency of the expression, the greater will be the thickness. She started painting at the age of 16, as she found by chance some rust proof paint cans and plywood panels in her father's warehouse, and she never stopped ever since. She continued exploring and testing new materials and techniques. Just now, with her last series entitled Hearth, she's testing and using row jute and discovering the elegance and strongness of this material used without any imprinting. She finds inspiration everywhere - it can be a leaf, or the shade of a tree trunk, a stone, or an intuition, an emotion. Pollock used to say that if you paint the unconscious, the shapes have to come out, and this is what she does. Like any artist, in her works, she expresses a large part of herself and the exploration of materials and dimensions. To do so, the process is now known: when she feels that energy is pressing inside, she knows that a painting is maturing, then she waits a few days until it feels like it is ready to come out.

Flow 9, Clay and acrylic, 70x100 cm, 2020 © Paola Nicotra

INTERVIEW

You are a self-taught artist. Could you tell us a little more about your background, and how did you begin making art?
Yes, I am a self-taught artist. I tried to study with an old art teacher when I was very young, but as I didn't follow the drawing rules (they were too strict for me). I was the last of the class, so I went on by myself.
I have always been a curious shaper of materials and colors. Since I was very young, I loved playing and testing with wood wastes, clay, and varnish. I liked doing multiple things, not just one, looking for the different aspects of beauty.
Then I started painting at the age of 16, as I found by chance some rustproof paint cans and plywood panels in my father's warehouse, put them together, fell in love with the results, and I never stopped making art from then.

What do you wish you knew about contemporary art before you got started?

Based on what I was taught, I once thought that creativity was something you learn in the classroom. I didn't understand then that free and deliberate practice, just practice, can transform the creative flow into something much greater if you just follow it and keep doing it often and constantly. We need to produce something every day, knowing that not everything that will come out will be "beauty" but that everything will still be functional to the flow of the creative process.

Take a look outside, Mixed on canvas, 60x80 cm, 2021 © Paola Nicotra

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

When I create a work, first of all I focus on creating the base and the reliefs. The textures are very important to me, so I first create thickness by using clay, jute, collages or sand, and putty, my favorite.
Only when I'm satisfied with the texture, then can I start with colours.
I could say that thickness is the real work, and colours are just a "consequence": if textures and reliefs are rightly done for me, colours will follow naturally, and I put them on the canvas without much thinking.
I always look for thickness because our unconscious has to express itself on a higher and thicker level than the simple two-dimensional canvas. I want my paintings to be touched, explored, and known not only with the eyes but also with the touch, so that people can come in contact with the interior elements that are there.

What is the most challenging part of your work? And where do you find inspiration?

I believe that the greatest challenge in my work, as for many artists, is to be able to translate what I feel into a language that creates resonance with the viewer and, at the same time, creates beauty. Given that beauty is a subjective perception, depth psychology teaches us that not everything unconscious is often beautiful. Each of us has many shadows, and the challenge is learning how to give them a shape.
I find inspiration anywhere. It can be a leaf, or the shade of a tree bark, a stone, whatever generates an unconscious projection to me. Pollock used to say that if you paint the unconscious, the shapes must come out, and that's what I do.

What is your favorite experience as an artist so far?

The artistic experience that has involved me the most so far has been the collective exhibition at the Barcelona Contemporary Art Fair, 3rd edition, from 3 to 23 September, which has just ended. Being among the over 70 artists selected from all over the world has allowed me to feel part of a varied world full of different shades and visions, in the setting of a wonderful city.

Do you have a role model that you've drawn inspiration from when creating your art?

Not one in particular but many in general.
I really like to absorb inputs from all over: films, paintings by past and present painters, nature, old photos and found objects, landscapes, music most of the time.

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

Of course!
In September, I won the contest "I have an idea" in the province of Vercelli, Piedmont, Italy. The prize is a wonderful opportunity for a solo exhibition, so I am preparing some new works to be included in the exhibition, which will be part of the Glances series. It will be in November or December.
And then, I will begin to work on another exposition in Greece, together with artists from all over the world, which will probably be in May 2022. So I am really excited about all these opportunities.

Fatta di ruggine, Mixed on raw jute, 60x50 cm, 2021© Paola Nicotra

Do you find that the shift to digital exhibitions and art fairs has helped you promote your work?

Yes, especially during the pandemic last year, digital exhibits have been very helpful in continuing to show themselves and allowing people to stay connected with art.
Furthermore, digital exhibitions often allow easier access to exhibitions, wherever you are in the world.

What do you wish to accomplish this year, both in terms of career goals and personal life?

For me, the last months of the year are those in which what has been sown during the year is harvested, the months in which we come to terms with short-term choices and do new projects.
For me, this September started with two exhibitions at the same time, in Italy and Spain, for which I had worked hard last winter. This was a great harvest for me.
Among the future projects, in addition to the solo exhibition of November or December, I plan to devote more and more time to my art, expand my contacts, do exhibitions in different parts of the world, travel, and open up to new possibilities.
In the private sphere, I planned, with my partner, to move to a warm place within the next year. We are already working on it.

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

What I can tell you about me that is not strictly and only linked to my art is that I work a lot on myself every day. I practice meditation and a training path to get to know myself, understand myself, and understand what makes me happy and thus be a free person, free to decide where and how to live and immune from society's judgment.
Because, we all know, one day we will no longer be there, and what will count will not be how much money, stress, and sadness we have accumulated, but how many times we have been capable of astonishment in front of the stars.

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