East City Art – Wade Carey Interviews Margarita Pinas
This East City Art post features an interview with artist Margarita Pinas. Here is an excerpt:
“Wade Carey spent a few hours with abstract painter M.M. Panas at her home studio on Wednesday, September 29th, 2010, in advance of the opening of her show, Action Painting, the work of M.M. Panas, now on display (September 28 to October 30, 2010) at City Gallery. That conversation is the basis for this interview. The questions and answers have been edited for concision and clarity.
W(ade): In the stuff that I read and on your website, it talks about what your approach to art is, that there is something novelistic about it, something that has an arc.
M(argaret):Painting is similar to writing in that a painter seeks to impart information to and evoke responses from the viewer, using color, line, shape and texture as tools, instead of words. We all respond uniquely to what we read or see, according to our experiences and knowledge. I am always surprised and delighted by the differing things people see in my work.
W: I have not seen the show. I have to go over to the gallery to see what’s mounted. Clearly, we won’t be able to do a walk-through of the pieces that are there. Today, instead, I want to talk about you and your approaches, how you got to where you are today. One of the things I’ve wanted to ask is whether you or Phil [Hutinet, City Gallery’s owner] decided on the showcase piece that is on the announcements and on the playbills.
M: I chose that piece.
W: I want to know why.
M: That red is hard to ignore. Red Index won a first prize in a juried group show and was chosen to be on the postcard for that show by the judge, a man I respect. I really liked the way it popped against the white background. Since I thought it was indicative of my theme Action Painting, I chose to use it also.
That particular red is one of my all-time favorite colors and I have to fight to stay away from it and not put it on every single painting that I have.
W: It confirms my suspicions that part of the reason is because it is so bold. And so, I was curious about how it fits into the arc of the work that you have been doing. If it has been in at least two shows, it is not what you did yesterday. You have lots of “children.” You cannot be asked to choose your favorite among all your children but, where does it fit into the arc of your painting?
M: Red Index was completed in 2009. I had been using earth tones and dark colors and decided I wanted to paint something that shouted. I love bold. I have been coming to the realization that I just want to paint instinctively and with a clear voice. When I think I am finished with a painting, I put it away for some time and then, after pulling it out, decide what it needs. I used to pick at adjustments. Lately, I make more decisive adjustments that can be major changes. I like the excitement and the statement.
W: It is not just color. It is how the color is applied on the canvas, how many different colors you use, how the blade of the brush is used on the canvas or paper.
M: Texture is important.
W: Do you blend a lot or do you use colors right out of the tube?
M: Both. It depends on what I am trying to get accomplish on a certain day or in a certain series. I always work on four or five paintings at the same time and I work quickly in the beginning. There is a lot of motion in my work. If I worked on one piece at a time, I would be murdering that painting, changing it constantly. As I keep moving, the inspiration comes, something happens, the music is right, I am in that zone, and everything is right with the world.”
Click here to read the whole interview. Visit City Gallery’s webpage for Pinas’s exhibition here.
Image in the post in Pinas’s Red Index, from the East City Art post.
