Jaqueline Selva Warren, Brazilian Artist in London
01 Apr, 2014
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By Manoela Afonso
Jaqueline Selva WarrenAi??is a Brazilian artist who has lived in London for three years. She works predominantly with sculpture. Her passion for grotesque art and metal music greatly influence her work. Find out more about Jaqueline and her influences in this interview.
MA ai??i?? When did you arrive in London and how has it been for you?
JW ai??i?? I was born and have always lived in FlorianA?polis, Santa Catarina. I came to London in January 2011 with my husband who is a musician and has British citizenship. Weai??i??re a creative couple so we decided to move to London to look for more opportunities in the arts sector. We also wanted to immerse ourselves in the rich cultural heritage of this marvellous city. We understood how difficult it would be living of our art. If you have lots of contacts and know people in the art world it can help.
MA ai??i?? What were the biggest challenges you faced in your new life in England?
JW ai??i?? Initially was the language, mainly because I ended up making more Brazilian than English or foreign contacts. I had no idea there would be so many Brazilians here! In Brazil I had a studio with a good space to work and store my pieces and equipment. Here in London we live in a tiny house, which makes producing sculptures a little difficult. Until we move into a bigger space, Iai??i??m going to make less sculptures and more drawings, paintings and cakes. I love the idea of making artistic cakes and sculptures. I even spent some time working with confectionery, decorating cakes.
MA ai??i?? Do you plan to move back to Brazil?
JW ai??i?? Itai??i??s complicated. Iai??i??m often really tempted to return, due to missing family and friends so much. Then I lose that feeling when I start to think about other elements, like the corruption, misery and violence. In my city the rate of crime has risen absurdly, the building boom is destroying the areaai??i??s natural beauty. There are huge buildings everywhere, too many vehicles and chaotic traffic. Itai??i??s impossible to get around the city and the public transport leaves a lot to be desired. These are the things that really put me off. If you have an aim which youai??i??re trying to achieve, the opportunities here can give you a better shot of making it happen. The quality of life is better here too.
MA ai??i??Tell us a little bit about your artistic trajectory.
JW ai??i?? My interest in art became from music. At 15 I started listening to hard rock, heavy metal and other genres of metal, styles which I still listen to a lot. The cd covers normally are characterised with images of monstrous figures. It influenced me in a period when I became interested in sculpture and started to create monsters and corpses in clay. In 1997, at 20, I started studying for my BA in fine art, specialising in ceramic sculpture, atAi??UDESCAi??(The State University of Santa Catarina) in FlorianA?polis.Ai??Before that, I studied to be a dental technician and finished the course in 2004. I continued studying sculpture in this period and discovered new materials and techniques, however focused on orthodontics. I worked for a little while in this area and then returned to the university in order to study art teaching. Then I did internships at state and private schools, as well as set up my own studio calledAi??Selvart, where I taught adults and children focusing mainly on modelling, sculpture, ceramics, painting and mosaic. In 2010 I did an exhibition with a series of figures called ai???Creaturesai??i??. When I was at university, I studied the life and work ofAi??H. R. Giger.Ai??Thatai??i??s when I discovered lots of other incredible artists and authors who inspired me to study more about the grotesque. Since then, I have been studying and working with sculpture and modelling, as well as developing skills in special effects through make up.
MA ai??i?? Whatai??i??s it like being an artist in Brazil? Is it different from being an artist in London?
JW ai??i?? Itai??i??s very complicated living from art everywhere in the world. In Brazil the situation is even worse. In general, artists are undervalued. Many of them engage with teaching, because it is a better option for paying the rent. In London there are more opportunities, despite there are also more competition. Here you can breathe art, there are so many events, exhibitions and shows, workshops for all tastes and budgets, being stimulated in many ways and intensities. In 2011 I did a sculpture inspired by ai???The Ugly Duchess (An Old Woman)ai??i??, by Quentin Matsys, which is located in the National Gallery. This piece was inspired by one of the Leonardo Da Vinciai??i??s drawings. Then I began to find out more about Da Vinci, focusing on his grotesque drawings and caricatures. I also went at the ai???Leonardo da Vinci: Painterai??i?? exhibition, at National Gallery in 2011, and decided to make a series of sculptures inspired by his grotesque drawings. While I was finishing a series of 8 sculptures in clay, I was surprised by another exhibition of Leonardoai??i??s artwork in London: ai???Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomistai??i??, at the Queen’s Gallery, in 2012. It was the biggest exhibition to date showing his anatomical works. After finishing these sculptures I exhibited them atAi??Espacio Gallery, in Bethnal Green. It was a pleasure to take part in this group exhibition; I made lots of contacts with other artists and received some commissions. Currently, as I mentioned earlier, I have been working with craft and artistic cakes in parallel to my sculpture production, in order to diversify my creative activities.Ai??
