Keeping Creativity Alive: An Interview With Natalia López
By Lea Byrnes Art
Meet Natalia López, an extraordinarily creative and inspiring young artist based in Queen Creek, Arizona! With a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Arizona State University, Natalia Lopez’s work has been featured in galleries around Tempe, Tucson, Chandler. and Gilbert, Arizona. Spanning a wide array of mediums including oil and acrylic painting, watercolor, and mixed media, Natalia’s work taps into the mystery and excitement of the universe around us. Her paintings often contain bold, vibrant colors, lush depictions of nature, and surrealist themes that blend reality with the mystical.
Photo of Natalia López
“I would describe myself as a creative who focuses on bringing surrealism into the world around me,” Natalia tells us. “I have always gravitated towards the weirder interests life has to offer; including oddities, vintage decor, and darker themed music. I incorporate these elements of interest into my own art fairly often, and I love getting inspired by visiting antique stores and frequenting creatively weird spaces like Terror Trader in Chandler and Call It New Call It Antique in Mesa.”
Conception of the Desert by Natalia López
The way that Natalia views the world is truly through the lens of an artist; always searching for pieces of the beauty and strangeness of our world to inspire her creativity.
A few of Natalia’s inspirations include artists like MC Escher, Salvador Dalí, and René Magritte. Natalia’s work undoubtedly reflects the surrealist inspirations of Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, but her favorite artist of all time is MC Escher. “This is a bit of an ironic choice from me,” she says, “...being that although surrealism is my favorite period of art, he is not classified as a surrealist artist. Nor do I create with the main medium of his choice (lithography). I feel like I gravitate towards Escher because of his subject matter. Escher created mesmerizing imagery surrounding illusion, patterns, and overall weirdness. I felt a gravitation towards his art from the moment I was introduced to his work in middle school math class, of all places. I even got a tattoo inspired by one of his pieces!”
Beholder by Natalia López
Like these artists, Natalia’s work often uses iconography and symbols to tell a story. “My most commonly used ones are eyes,” she says. “I feel like eyes are a part of the body that tell so much yet so little all at once. I like to incorporate lots of color and weird shapes into my works as well. Another subject I enjoy painting and drawing are animal bones and unique compositions, which I feel are most recognizable in my most recent works.”
Vida de simbolismo by Natalia López
Natalia is a mixed media artist who specializes in watercolor and gouache painting, as well as acrylic and ink. She has also experimented with various mixed media and three dimensional mediums. She often paints on unconventional and found materials such as reclaimed wood, as pictured in the stunning oil painting, Vida de simbolismo.
“My favorite part about what I do is sitting down and getting to be creative. I feel like the act of painting, drawing or just art making in general is very relaxing but also very satisfying. I get to play with colors, texture, and shape all while working towards a beautiful piece. I find nothing more joyful than sitting down and mindlessly working on a piece while listening to a good true crime podcast or jamming out to Ghost.”
Natalia’s artistic journey began long ago when she was a young child, still just as imaginative and creative as she is today. As a teenager, she was already a highly skilled artist, even keeping a gorgeous handmade art journal throughout her high school years.
Glittering Skull by Natalia López
Natalia continues to keep an art journal to this day, using it as a space for pure, uninhibited creative freedom and expression. With mixed media materials such as scrapbook paper, stickers, magazine images, drawing, and painting, Natalia has documented her artistic journey throughout the art journals that she has created over the years. These journals help to keep her creativity and imagination flowing as she continues to work on her larger paintings and drawings. Her journals also include personal memories, notes, found objects, and so much more! Flipping through her journal, one can’t help but be completely inspired by the raw creativity contained within its pages. It seems completely obvious that someone as creative as Natalia was of course destined to become a professional artist. However, that decision was one that required a leap of faith and a lot of courage.
Art Journal Page by Natalia López
“I was really into drawing and painting in high school, and when I got to college I thought maybe I should think about getting a ‘real career,’” she tells us. Natalia initially began her college career pursuing a degree in marketing, but she later decided to follow her true passion and switch to an art degree. She describes, “I have since graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in May of 2023, and I couldn’t be happier having pursued a degree within the arts. It’s helped define my skills as well as lead me to try new techniques and mediums I otherwise wouldn’t have.”
For Natalia, one of the most rewarding parts of her artistic career has been all of the friends and memories she has created along this journey. “I have networked and exhibited alongside many fellow creatives and art lovers alike, and it’s truly one of the best experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of,” she says. “I really enjoyed showing at Harry Wood and Gallery 100 at ASU, as well as The Lost Barrio Gallery in Tucson. Though my gallery experience is still growing, I have met many amazing artists throughout my time showing at different galleries. I look forward to working with them again as well as meeting and sharing my love of the arts with new faces of the future.”
Art Journal Page by Natalia López
Natalia is the type of person who cannot help but express herself creatively. Whether it be through fashion, music, art, or even thrift shopping; Natalia simply has an eye to see the extraordinary beauty in the ordinary world around her. “I create what I create to express myself and share the creativity I conjure up with others around me,” she shares.
Like many other young artists, being brave enough to follow her dreams has not come without its challenges. “I would say the biggest obstacle I’ve had to overcome is being financially sound,” Natalia tells us. “There’s always the ‘starving artist’ phrase that every creative hears at some point in their career. This isn’t something I’ve escaped. I knew going into the arts I more than likely wasn’t going to be getting a job that pays for luxury wants, but I really couldn’t be happier. I make art when I can and I do currently have a full time job that’s not directly involved with the arts and I’ve become ok with that. I’ve learned that it’s ok to have a ‘regular job’ while being an artist and maybe my job will become the step I need to advance a future within the arts. My advice to those who find struggle in making it as an artist is it’s ok to do something else while working towards your creative opportunities. You will not change who you are by working outside the arts and in fact you never know what skills or networks you may make from said job.”
Art Journal Page by Natalia López
Natalia’s journey and sentiment mirrors that of nearly every young artist striving to balance financial success with creative fulfillment in today’s stressful world. “My advice to young and new creatives alike would be to treat yourself with kindness,” she says. “There’s always pressure to keep up with your peers or other people that seem to have it more put together than you. It’s ok to not make anything for days, weeks, months, etc. We all have the ability to find creativity within something and it’s ok to not do said thing every day. Burnout and lack of inspiration are the biggest problems any creative person can encounter and it’s finding that happy balance between life and art that makes it enjoyable. Don’t force yourself to create simply because you haven’t in a while. Let the thoughts and ideas come to you when you’re ready.”
By living in a creative flow state, Natalia takes inspiration as it comes naturally. This creativity pours out of her through her work, which is a physical representation of the beautiful way that she perceives the world. “I believe art has the ability to change the world by providing an escape from our current state,” she says. “Art, to me, is an outlet– a glimpse into someone else’s mind. It can be sad; it can be painful, happy, funny, or depressing. It can be whatever the viewer needs it to be, and that’s what’s most important to our society right now. There’s a lot of exterior factors that cause us complex emotions but art can be that thought provoker you need to escape.”
Friendship Dies by Natalia López
Natalia plans to continue to grow her presence within the galleries of Arizona and create more mixed media works that push the boundaries of her creativity. “I’m constantly thinking of new ways to improve myself and my work especially when it comes to subject matter. Perhaps in the near future you may see me stepping out of my comfort zone and making my artwork more accessible to the public. I really want to create either prints or stickers of my works but also continue to show in galleries. In the distant future I ultimately would love to open a gallery or creative space in my home town of Queen Creek, but right now I am working on my own artistic journey becoming more familiar within the artistic community of Arizona.”
As a recent college graduate with so many accomplishments under her belt already, there is no doubt that Natalia is well on her way to achieving even more artistic success. Her genuine love for her craft is palpable to all who speak with her or get the opportunity to witness her in the midst of her creative process. With her boundless imagination and inspiring artistic passion, Natalia is truly the type of person who is keeping creativity alive.
Edited by KBR on July 26, 2024
