Interview: Laura GuildA
Luca Curci talks with Laura GuildA during VENICE INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR 2021 and FRAGMENTED IDENTIES, second appointment of BORDERS ART FAIR 2021, at Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello.

Laura Guilda Grote in art Laura GuildA, was born in 1986 and was raised in Austria and Germany. She grew up in different small towns and cities before she moved to Berlin by the age of 12. After high school and some formative experiences in Spain and Switzerland, she moved to Milan, Italy, where she started to study at Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (NABA) and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion and Textile Design in 2013. Continuing her studies, Laura completed a Master’s Degree in Visual Arts and Decoration with honours at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera.

Laura GuildA’s work is often conceptual and contemporary. Because she studied fashion design before she studied art, she is influenced by it and it has been natural for her to develop an affinity to the art of hand-crafted work which has become a creative process to go through with attention, dedication and time.

Luca Curci – What are you currently working on?
Laura GuildA – I am currently working on several pieces. For example, I am refining a work of 2019, a children’s chair I have woven on, by embroidering strips of fabric with writings. I’ve also started a new piece on an embroidery hoop and a new series of glass engravings.

LC – What’s your background? What is the experience that has influenced your work the most?
LG – Before studying Visual Arts at Brera Academy in Milan I studied Fashion & Textile Design and that’s why I developed an affinity for the art of handcrafted work like sewing, knitting, felting or weaving and that made me choose materials like fabrics, threads and fibres for my installations and textile works. I think assisting other artists and spending time with them exchanging ideas has encouraged me to work as an artist myself. The experience of the pandemic made me focus more on my personal work.

LC – Where do you find your inspiration?
LG – Actually, I can find it in many different ways. I can be inspired by a colour, a structure or surface, by nature or objects and situations of daily life. But I am also very attentive to social, environmental and political issues and feel attracted to spiritual or philosophical ideas. A historical or current event can be the inspiration that often leads me to do research to interpret it in my own way.

LC – Did your style change over the years? In which way?
LG – My first works were perhaps aesthetically beautiful but were less meaningful. After some experience and a little experimentation, I found a way to improve my work and convey a stronger message to create emotion. I like to share my thoughts and opinions to encourage the audience to rethink certain behaviours and I like to play with different styles : one more elaborated and a minimal one.

LC – Do visitors’ suggestions enrich yourself and your art?
LG – Yes, I really like it when I find out what visitors think of my artworks and what they express for them. Sometimes it’s really inspiring and makes me change the idea of how to present them.

LC – What is the message linked to the artwork you have shown in this exhibition? How is it connected to the theme of the entire festival?
LC – Since the Venice International Art Fair 2021 analyzes the relationship between body and space, the hybridization between physical and urban settings in contemporary time, my work is connected very well to its theme. For ‘’veritas’’ I was inspired by the beautiful and empty city of Venice during the lockdown.

LC – In which way the artwork presented in our exhibition is connected with the festival’s theme?
LG – My artwork is linked to the festival’s theme of abstract, infinite and conceptual FUTURE LANDSCAPES associated with a sense of freedom and infinitive extension. It analizes the concept of borders and structures between body, mind and soul, the human identity and the city. ‘’Veritas’’ is a woven piece in a blue velvet and silver wooden frame. This work is inspired by Venice with its blue-green shimmering water canals, the blue gondola covers, the clear sky and the light of the city. Various cotton cords, gift bows and velvet ribbons form a fabric that transmits the impressions and feelings of me while staying in Venice during lockdown, in March 2021. Chocolate paper and headphones were interwoven into the fabric that are witnesses of isolation and loneliness and the green ribbon is reminiscent of the cat I played with. Sometimes one has to withdraw from daily life to understand the truth.

LC – What do you think about ITSLIQUID Platform?
LG – I think that ITSLIQUID is a very well organized cultural hub that connects artists working in every part of the world with art lovers in beautiful exhibition spaces in different interesting cities.

LC – What are your suggestions about our services? Is there something more we can provide to artists?
LG – I am very happy with the overall organisation, the reliability, the service and the helpfulness of the staff. The only thing I would like to suggest is to extend the opening hours also to the weekend.

LC – Did you enjoy cooperating with us?
LG – Yes, definitely. Thank you very much. It was a nice experience.