Interview with Nora Gem
O-A: What is art to you? Is creating an urge, necessity or maybe an incontournable, essential way of life?
Nora Gem: Art to me is like breathing, there is an inside need driving me to create and explore new ways of visual expression. When I paint, I am in a different universe and the balance of concentration and movement makes it feel like I am truly alive.
O-A: What wouldn’t you do without art?
Nora Gem: If I didn’t paint I wouldn’t have been able to see the world as I am able to see it today.
With art I met various different artists and art lovers, collectors who have provided exciting new dialogues and mutual respect besides generating more knowledge and mutual understanding.
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O-A: If a person, artist or not, influenced you, what kind of question would you ask him/her?
Nora Gem: I would ask him/her what currently inspires him/her the most and what are his/her daily habits.
O-A: Who or what inspired you artistically; a person, artist, event, experience…
Nora Gem: Currently nature inspires me the most and the relationships people have towards each other and how they relate to each other.
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O-A: What is a vivid memory of a remark concerning your art that got stuck with you?
Nora Gem: I usually choose to paint pale colours and cautious brush strokes, however this years’ intense changes in the world have brought change to my methods as well.
O-A: What was the most interesting statement you heard about your work?
Nora Gem: People have mentioned they see certain figures, human relationships inside some of my abstract recent works, which are their own projections into my work. I am happy when these comments are mentioned because it means people gain insights after viewing some of my paintings.
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O-A: How do you search for inspiration and themes for your work?
Nora Gem: I observe people, conversations on the street, news headlines, pictures and colours and light variations when I am outside.
O-A: How has your art changed over time? Why?
Nora Gem: From figurative it has changed to abstract, then a mixture of figurative and abstract elements are used in some cases blended together and in some cases I decide to use them separately.
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O-A: Are you a synesthet? Have synesthet ever commented on your paintings?How?
Nora Gem: I do not know if I am a synesthetic however music and images correlate inside of me if I hear classical music for example I see pictures in my head I am able to paint. When I read a news article a picture/ painting also come into my mind right away.
O-A: What names do you give your artworks?
Nora Gem: Usually names are chosen by an event that has happened while working on a particular painting. In other cases the painting itself produces its name during its development.
O-A: What do you usually talk about with your collectors?
Nora Gem: Usually I discuss the motive before and during the creation process of the painting, I discuss the techniques used, the parameters of the environment where the painting is set to move in.
Interview with Nora Gem: 11.11.2020
