Rosemont Art Advisory Exclusive interview with Dodo Newman, the abstract expressionist artist based in Berlin, Germany.
This interview is part of series of artist interview, released every month in our newsletter.
1. What was your inspiration to become an artist? Your main influence?
There was no particular thing that influenced me to become an artist, it was something I knew deep within from the very beginning of my life.
The richness and contrasting experiences of the different world parts and views that I was exposed to as a child opened up to me the sensibility to the differences that make up our world. It has also strengthened in me the notion already at an early age that somehow we are all connected and everything is linked to each other and to our environment on our planet.
During this path of curiosity and realizations I am ever so keen to express myself and give back through art to others. My underlying intention is to contribute to transformation of our world to a better place through more awareness and consciousness.
There were many influences on this journey in the form of persons as well as life experiences that ascertained me more on this path. Sometimes they crossed my life in forms of supporters, motivators, happiness, love and other times they crossed in the form of obstacles, causing difficulties, pain, sadness and periods of struggle. These contrasting periods together strengthened in me that no matter where we go around the world we all have an individual story that connects us to each other and that brings us together. And also that life is precious and a privilege to live it and create the best out of it.
2. Tell us about a woman you admire and how she’s inspired you to become who you are today?
The woman whom I consider to be one of my Heroes is my grandmother. She was a person who taught me through her own life experiences that no matter what, there is always something to be grateful for and to smile at. She was an exceptional woman in many ways.
She lived through the two World Wars, went through communism and was a Holocaust survivor. She not only saw great struggles, experienced hunger, loneliness, great loss, pain and sorrow but she found the strength to live her life fully in the best way. She looked for the best side of things.
As a child I remember her often traveling despite the difficulties, loving music, working way into her 70s, being always curious to new things and being alive and young at heart.
When I was still seeking my way into my artistic path, she always said to me that she might not understand exactly what I am doing at the moment but she sees me happy and alive doing it, which gives her joy in return. This is what I most took with me from her: the unconditional love and joy for one an other and deep understanding of the meaning of love for life.
3. What is your current project and which was the last exhibition you saw?
My artistic projects and aims always evolve around two strings of process. On one side the creating of something new visually and on the other the spreading of awareness about art and its role in breaking barriers to as many people as possible through writings. Art is a vehicle of transformation and as an artist that is what I aim to do with all my projects.
At the moment my current project focusing on the visual creation, is the life force and energy that keeps everything in a continuous flow, the beauty of the outer and our inner space and how the two is linked. It reveals such beauty, power that it makes us humans humble in front of its vastness and wonders, which I aim to give back.
In expressing this visually I am experimenting with creating with different materials and also combining it with digital painting, eventually printing on materials such as aluminium, plexiglass and other non-traditional materials. Since I like to experiment with new things, what I seek to do is to combine the traditional with the new and modern technology, creating something new and innovating it further. For example I am intrigued and aiming to make use of the technology of 3D printing and combining it with traditional skills and art.
My other focus is on a magazine, called the Secrets of Art magazine, which is to be launched in June, that is intended to promote growth and development for artists in their goals and activities and to promote art in every field and area of life. Today’s artist is eclectic and contributes to change through all its forms, and this magazine’s aim is to reveal and give voice to people who are contributing to this change, who are making our world a better place through art. It is also intended to artists wanting to know more about their activities, possibilities, know-how, etc.
I usually do not go to many exhibitions unless there is one in particular that calls to me. The most recent one that inspired me most was Zao Wou-Ki’s “L’Espace est silence” exhibition at the Musée d’Art moderne in Paris. I relate very much to Zao Wou-Ki’s visual and spiritual expression. He is one of those artists who have contributed to bringing together the East and West, fusing the two worlds with his own unique expressions. His art is a form of poetry and meditation, where stillness and the source of all creation lies.
For more information, please contact Karolina Blasiak, Art Advisor at k.blasiak@rosemont-mc.com or visit Dodo Newman's website.
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