WOMEN EMPOWERED BY ART: Gina Kalenderian Paints from Life in Natural Light

Click here to have free, daily alerts delivered to your inbox for all your Westford news.

Editor’s note: This Q&A with Gina Kalenderian is the fourth in our series at WestfordCAT on Women Empowered by Art. Here, WestfordCat intern, Jesena Kalabokis, interviews the artist. Kalabokis is a junior at Innovation Academy in Tyngsborough.

By Jesena Kalabokis

What inspired your passion for painting?

I was born and raised in an old Victorian in Boston. I was surrounded by a large extended Italian-American family, and I think that the first spark of interest in art came from my grandfather and uncle, who were both opera enthusiasts. They instilled in me a love for classical culture, but we had no visual artists in our family. However, my best friend lived across the street, her name is Hannah, and her mother, Mrs. Lilliman, was an art teacher. She actually taught developmentally disabled students, and whenever I would go over there, there would be art supplies around and she would have projects on the table for us to work on, and that was very, very inspiring to me. So I credit Mrs. Lilliman and my grandfather and uncle.

Who are your influences when creating art?

There are so many great masters from the past that have inspired me. I’m always looking at art, going to museums as often as I can, and with the internet it’s great because you can look things up and study them. I would say from the Ancient Greeks and beyond into the impressionists, there have been so many influences. When I was learning to draw, I began by copying some of the master works of the Renaissance artists, and I loved Botticelli’s paintings because they were so refined and delicate. Then by contrast, Michelangelo’s were so sculptural and muscular. Each artist has something to teach. There are a lot of contemporary artists as well, and again, with the internet, you can connect with people from all over the world. Through Instagram, you can follow an artist whose work you like and there are a number of them that do inspire me as well.

How would you describe your artistic process?

Well, I paint in oils. I love to paint in oils because it lends itself to the expression of texture and color. There’s so much you can do with oil, there are mediums and brushes and each thing influences the outcome and the effect. I paint landscapes and portraits and still lives, and I like to paint primarily from life, in natural light. So, if I wanted to paint a vase of roses, I wouldn’t just say “Okay so this is how I paint a rose, I’m going to take out a canvas and I’ll paint my rose here, and I’ll put one up here, and I’ll put one over there.” What I’ll do is that I get an actual bunch of roses, and I set them up in a nice little setting that I find aesthetically beautiful, and I will carefully study the scene and I’ll look at each rose individually. Each one will have its own personality. I’m not painting roses in general, I’m painting the particular roses as they are arranged in front of me. If I paint a portrait, I try to reveal something of the individuality of the person as well, and try to find that spark of dignity in the person. So I’ll do that even before picking up a brush, I’ll try to put my finger on that and hold onto it throughout the whole process.

How has the pandemic affected your art?

Like most people when the pandemic began, I suddenly found myself at home a lot, which was a good thing because I have my studio in my house and I was able to devote more time to painting. I also looked at it as an opportunity to get organized. I had not had a website prior, and so I began to work on that, and I began photographing some of my works and putting them up on the website. I also began writing a newsletter and a blog, which I found I really enjoy quite a lot, I hadn’t done that before.

Are there any challenges you face as a woman in the arts?

Even though the vast majority of the great artists represented in museums throughout history have largely been men, that has really, really changed. I think today women are very well represented at all levels in the art field and in the art world. There are so many women fine artists and women college professors in the art schools, directors of well known ateliers, and gallery owners. So I don’t think there is really any limit to women in the arts, but I have to say that I want people to know that a painting is more than a snapshot that’s glanced at and just swiped away, it’s a discovery and it’s a memory. It’s a treasure that is gained through careful attention and exploration. It takes time to make a painting, but the result is something that can be enjoyed over time as well. Something that you want to look at for a while because it took a while to produce.