Meet Josefa Cordua | Visual Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Josefa Cordua and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Josefa, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I’m from Chile and I think my childhood was very important in my formation. I had a very happy childhood, surrounded by nature and by my family. I lived my first five years in the countryside, and spent most of the time playing outside with my brothers, drawing and making things with my hands. I value those things a lot now, considering the way we live in these days, always hurry, trying to do the most of every minute, without really enjoying it, depending on technology for almost everything.

I think we need to slow down and go back to the simple. To enjoy the process without always being thinking about the result. To give space to silence, to reflection. And it’s important that we reassess the handmade, the things that take time, and also leisure sometimes.

I think that’s why I’m a painter. It’s a way to put all that into practice and live it in my day to day life. Painting is also a way to force myself to be 100% focused on one thing, an ability that’s being lost nowadays.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I paint landscapes where nature is the protagonist. Trough my art I seek to recreate the introspective and contemplative experience of being surrounded by nature. I want to remind people of that feeling when they are all stressed up in their routines and to see my painting as a window to the natural world.

I think I’ve been learning a lot and improving my technique more and more over the years. In art, as in life, it is very important to practice and to be constant, never stop painting, even if you don’t feel inspired. And I think that’s one of the greater lessons, not give up, even if there are difficult months, without much income, to believe in your personal project and keep going forward. To trust in one’s own abilities and not lose sight of the horizon.
I’m proud I stuck with it because it wasn’t easy, especially in the early years, but it worth it, because now my work is being known in different countries and is reaching people who are interested in it and it makes sense to them.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

If a friend comes to visit, first of all I would welcome him/her with a good Chilean barbecue, with plenty of choripán, pebre and empanadas with family and friends.

Santiago is the capital of Chile and therefore a great city with a lot to see and do so this is what I would recommend for the next few days:

Do a tour trough the Historic Center of Santiago, get to know it’s history and the most iconic places like the Plaza de Armas, La Moneda, the Cathedral, the Museum of Fine Arts. Then I recommend walking around Lastarria, a neighborhood of a few blocks, but very interesting, eat a sandwich with a beer at the José Ramón restaurant, visit the MAVI and the GAM to see some art and then walk through it’s streets, enter it’s little stores and see the fairs of used books and handicrafts.

Another day I would recommend go biking around Cerro San Cristóbal and along the walkways of the Metropolitan Park which is a nice park with natural areas and has very good views of the city and the mountains. I would take him/her to go up the cable car and then go to Bellavista, a bohemian neighborhood with lots of urban art, and good places to eat and drink, I recommend the Patio Bellavista that has very good options.

It is also interesting to visit the Bicentennial Park and the Costanera Center, climb the Sky Costanera to see the whole city in 360 degrees from the tallest building in Santiago.

You can make day trips to places that are close to the city, if it’s winter I recommend going up to the snow to ski, it is very close to Santiago and there are different ski centers.
If not, take a trip to Cajón del Maipo, where you can go trekking, rafting or horseback riding, and you can get to beautiful lagoons with glaciers, and spectacular views.

You can also go for the day to Valparaiso, a port city only 1 hour away from Santiago by car, with many things to see and activities to do. You can get lost among it’s streets of colorful houses, go up the funiculars to the different hills, ride a boat in the port and eat delicious seafood in the best places. It is next to Viña del Mar and Reñaca, with very good beaches to spend the day.

Another day you can take a trip to a vineyard, where they offer wine tastings and tell you something of their history, I recommend the Concha y Toro Vineyard where they tell you the legend of the Casillero del Diablo in the cellar and you can know the vineyard with its beautiful views of the Maipo Valley.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First of all, I have to thank my family for believing in me and encouraging me all the time. I’ve had a lot of moments of doubt over time and they are always there to reaffirm my convictions and support me.

I had a really good art teacher at high school, César Gabler, who motivated a lot of students to study Art and follow this path. I think he is very passionate about art, and he knew how to transmit it very well to his students.

In Art School I also had good teachers who taught me important things, in painting technique I learned a lot from Alejandra Wolff and Voluspa Jarpa. In project creation I have to thank Paula de Solminihac and Gonzalo Cienfuegos for being very good guides.

I also believe that all artists who have been generous with their knowledge and tips, who seek that other artists also go far and do well, are an impulse for others and it is very important to thank them as well.

Recently I took a very good course with Dina Brodsky about Instagram that has been a very good tool to grow my account and reach more people.

And last but not least, I would like to thank all the collectors who have acquired my works because they have allowed me to continue creating.

Website: www.josefacordua.com

Instagram: josefa.cordua