GRAZIELA GUARDINO

Music by Cody Martin

GRAZIELA GUARDINO

VISUAL artist

Sydney, Australia

I made this film with Graziela Guardino for her last solo show in Brazil at the Galeria Arteformatto. We filmed in the studio she shares with the crème de la crème of Sydney’s contemporary artists in Rosebery.

Her space is cloistral: white walls, white floors, a small table with a sewing machine in the corner and a single chair. I set up my cinema lights and observe her while she creates a new piece. It a mix of brutal tearing apart and delicate pulling of threads, forceful crushing of pigments and soft caress of the brush.

Graziela is a Sydney based contemporary artist who creates woven paintings/sculptures by deconstructing and reconstructing pieces of fabric. Her focus is on the feminine, ancestral crafts and nature. These are at the heart of her daily experimentations.

I decided to interview her (below) to get to know her better. Let’s follow her from Sao Paulo, to Hong Kong and finally Sydney.

Connect with Graziela

@grazielaguardino | grazielaguardino.com

INTERVIEW

I have an Italian family background. Most of our names are Italian. My parents agreed that if they ever had a girl, they would call her Graziela. Apparently it means Gracious.
I was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil and I live in Sydney, Australia.
I speak Portuguese at home. I understand Spanish, but I am too shy to speak.
I am a visual artists. I make paintings, objects and installations using recycled fabric and wood.
It is too hard to name just one artwork, but I can name a few artists that inspired me a lot.
Eva Hesse, Louise Bourgeois and Gabriel Orozco.
The only thing I knew was that I was always happy if I was making something using my hands.
Work
My practice changed a lot when I was doing my masters by research in Hong Kong. It was in Hong Kong that I started to experiment with fabrics and changing materials, which sort of shifted my practice completely.
Being able to keep going after my mother passed away.
Love/ amor. Every time I hear or I say it I fell happy. It has the capacity to change all the energy in the room.
Respect
Compassion
Courage
I collect a lot of materials that I think one day I might be able to transform into art objects. That includes, fabrics, wood, wire...
My family. They are my strength. The base of everything.
Agnes Martin Writings.
How to live to 100.
C’mon C'mon.
Can I name 3? Lenore Tawney, Sheila Hicks, Louise Bourgeois.
I can’t name just one as my friends would be too upset.
Brazil
To create a performance using one of my installations.
It would be wonderful to find a performance artists who would be interested in collaborating and bringing life and movement to my piece.