Born in Santo Domingo and living in the United States, Marino Chanlatte has let the nature of the Americas play its part in what for more than 30 years has been and still is his passion, painting. Influenced by expressionism and moving further and further towards abstraction, his artworks have won several prizes and mentions and he has exhibited internationally. Don't miss our section "From my studio", today with Marino Chanlatte
1.When and why did you start painting?
I got into painting long before I realised it was my passion, that I was and would be a painter. I felt an inner need to express, freely and spontaneously, feelings, thoughts, ideas and fantasies that appeared like visions. That's why I paint, because it's my passion, I've been painting for more than three decades, each time with greater intensity and depth.
2.What time of day do you prefer for painting? How much time do you devote to painting?
I prefer to paint in the early hours of the afternoon, when the sun is going down, but I usually carry on at night with lights that imitate natural light, although it's never the same. I paint for as long as I can.
3.Of all the paintings you've done, which is your favourite? Why?
Every artwork I finish is my favourite, the one I admire most and the one I like best, but that feeling is fleeting, very brief, momentary, as soon as I start working on another artwork that one becomes my new favourite, I give it all the attention and effort I can, and so on. I have problems when I work on several artworks at once, then I have several favourites, and the effort is multiplied. Right now I'm working on a series of abstract artworks that I'll be exhibiting soon, I like abstraction a lot because it's the most intimate and personal style, it lets you express yourself with a language of your own, free and spontaneous. And the painting allows the viewer to relate to the author in a unique way.
4.There have been great artists in the history of art, who would you have liked to be?
That's a difficult question because there have been many great masters in every era or stage of art history, but I'm fascinated by Goya, Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, Matisse, Vlaminck, Kirchner and many others. I'd like to go on being Me and only Me, but interacting with and depending on all the beings and things around me.
5.What is or are your sources of inspiration?
My source of inspiration is nature, the lush nature of the Americas, and its tropical, Caribbean expression. I'm influenced by the sea and the sun that are etched in my brain and on my retina, from being born and raised on the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo. This nature suggests and lays out a palette: indigo, blues, yellows, reds, more like fire, greens, all applied pure, almost without shading, looking for the impasto, the texture.
6.Of all the artistic movements, which one has the greatest influence on your work?
Expressionism moves and unsettles me, so I think it influences me, although it's a very varied body of work, I share some of its characteristics, for example distorting reality to express nature more subjectively. Also the fact of preferring the expression of feelings over the objective description of reality, though influenced psychologically by physical nature and the social and human environment. I mean both German expressionism and American abstract expressionism.
7.What does art mean to you? What part does it play in your life?
Art has a very special meaning for me, it gives my life meaning, it satisfies me greatly, it entertains me, it absorbs me, it lets me express myself with freedom and spontaneity, and above all it gives me the chance to create and recreate in a limitless, inexhaustible way.
Marino, muchas gracias por la entrevista.Disfruta las obras de Marino Chanlatte en http://chanlatte.artelista.com/
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