Meet Paulina Cerda | Visual Artist

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

Hi Paulina, how do you define success?
1-When I studied Art at university, I pursued my passion, feeling that there was a talent that could take me somewhere. However, I never really thought about what it would be like to make a living from art and have painting be my daily job. After finishing my studies, I did a diploma in 3D digital animation and at the same time worked in an art supply store. This job gave me the opportunity to learn about the best materials, meet artists, and learn more about each technique. It was then that I started creating pieces that began to sell, and I was afraid to leave my job to dedicate myself 100% to art. But I took the plunge, and it was the best decision I could have made.

2-I believe that my work is an inspiration in showing that it is possible to make a living doing what we love and makes us happy, as long as there is dedication, effort, and perseverance. On the other hand, I always try to share techniques and processes through videos to teach other people how to create as well, whether as a hobby or as a job, and to contribute to helping others create their own works.

3- The risks are always present when one is a freelancer, in my case as an artist and specifically a painter, the risk lies in the fact that if you want to make a living from art, you have to be very active and work in many cases more hours than in many other jobs. This adrenaline rush of risk makes it incredible to achieve our goals, sometimes there is also a lot of stress involved. However, I believe that when you dedicate yourself to a project and give it your all, the risk will always be worth it, and what we gain from this experience will be amazing.

4- As a mom, I have tried to make sure my children are familiar with my work world, having them accompany me to the studio, painting together, going to art exhibitions, etc. I aim for their interest in art to be natural in their lives and for them to learn from these experiences. They are still very young, but I would love to see over time how all that we will experience together through art influences their knowledge and creative expression. Hopefully, it will also open their eyes and hearts to being more receptive and understanding the wonder of connecting with other people in the artistic world and their works, which will have so much to express.

5- I am very grateful for my life to be able to dedicate myself to art, it is what fills me the most and every day I want to go to the studio with more enthusiasm, feeling like there aren’t enough hours to create everything that is in my head. I believe that this feeling of happiness for what I do is fortunate, but I am also aware that the results I see from my work are the product of years of effort and dedication, working hard and even late hours to achieve the expected results… At least in my case, it was about being consistent and giving my all.

6- I usually don’t give up, I always try to move forward and seek to grow in my artistic career. However, there are stages in life, such as being a mom or external circumstances to work, that may affect our artistic endeavors. Nevertheless, I will always try to continue growing as a person and artist, and I will seek new ways to continue connecting with all my creative development.

7- When I was not yet a mother, I had a lot of time to dedicate to my artistic career. However, life moves on, stages change, and I see that despite having much less time for my work, I continue to do everything I can. I would never put my family life aside because children grow up very quickly, and it is important to me to be a present mother and be by their side during these important years of their lives, as well as with my husband. I always strive to maintain a balance between continuing to create and progress while not neglecting them. To achieve this, I have had to blend my family and artistic worlds and make my family a part of it all. They accompany me and help me in any way they can.
For me, that fusion between my family and work is about achieving a balance.

8- It makes me happy to connect with my inner self and express it, and it also makes me happy (going back to the previous point) to have balance in my life, where I see that my loved ones are healthy, have love, affection, friendship, and family, and also have a job where I do what I love. Nowadays, I am in a very happy stage of my life and in most aspects of it, I consider myself very fortunate for everything I have and everything that surrounds me.

9- From a young age, an artistic interest emerged in my life, clearly influenced by being surrounded by art, but also by my personality; something very characteristic of me is my sensitivity. I have so much to express that art was bursting out of me everywhere. In school, my notebooks were completely filled with drawings. I couldn’t concentrate much on other subjects because my mind needed to draw and create. This is how I stood out in the artistic field, and it gave me a sense of security and certainty that there was something in which I excelled and others noticed as well. I never doubted dedicating myself to art. Everything I have done in my life regarding this has filled me and given me so much. I have enjoyed every stage of my artistic life too much. I went to university, then did a diploma in 3D digital animation, then worked in an art supply store, then started dedicating myself to painting. I moved abroad, which also greatly influenced my work, and since then, I have never been able (nor wanted) to stop. On the contrary, I want to continue advancing and growing as an artist to be able to do what I love forever.

10- For me, success is what I currently have in my life: my dream job, my family, and peace of mind. I feel very honored to have people who connect so deeply with my work, who send me daily messages congratulating me on my art, and it makes me very happy that the overall reception of my work is so positive. Provoking something positive in another person is also success for me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In my artistic development, I have gone through different stages, along with them, I have experimented with different techniques and investigated various themes. Initially, my work originated from the world of dreams, specifically my dreams. It was a phase of recalling a lot of what I dreamt, and I translated this through painting, trying to capture sensations through colors, textures. Then, these dreams began to become more diluted; I didn’t remember as much as before, so I started creating my own dream worlds. Through abstract techniques, I worked layer by layer to create depths so that people who saw my pieces could find their own worlds within abstract forms that always suggested some recognizable shape. This led to working in 3D to create more planes with greater depth. The use of shadow in lines or different brushstrokes was a great discovery, and along with these fragments that seemed to be flying within the pictorial scene, the desire to extract the material itself emerged, acrylic in layers extracted from the surface to become the model of the painting itself.

I feel that with each step my work takes, I am getting closer to the idea I am pursuing. Something I have particularly enjoyed is that as my work has evolved, I see how the people who have followed it from the beginning are understanding each step and how one result has led to another. They have progressed with me in this timeline full of changes in both techniques and personal aspects that are also reflected in the different stages of the work. Nowadays, I hope to grow and expand to other countries, to showcase my work in different parts of the world and reach new audiences, not only through paintings but also through installations. I have learned not to be afraid and to believe in my work, to lose the shame of showing it. There will be many people who may not connect with it, but today I am happy with those who do and with whom I can talk about art and analyze both my work and that of others. I am not seeking approval from anyone to feel the value of what I do; I am only interested in creating connections and opportunities for conversation and reflection.

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?
I would first take her to my favorite café, Puelo Café, to enjoy a delicious brunch and have a good specialty coffee. I would also have a beach outing planned for her, to Puertecillo, which is a truly wonderful place. Then we would return to Santiago and head out on another excursion, this time to the South, to the Rio Puelo, to a cozy cabin connected with nature. We would visit the Sol hot springs and spend an amazing day there. Later, we would return to Santiago and I would take her to an exhibition and then to a good restaurant with a great menu of food and drinks, and we would end the week with an incredible conversation.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Thanks to my family, especially my husband and my mom, for always being an unconditional support on this artistic journey and path. There are also people of light who influence our path, illuminating each step, such as the curator of my last solo exhibition, Francisca Bazmalinovic. She has been key in this development and a constant support.

Website: https://www.paulinacerda.com

Instagram: paulinacerda