Interview: Veronica Diago

Name: Veronica Diago
Occupation: Full Time Mixed Media Artist
Location: London, Ontario, Canada

1. What kind of art do you make?

I'm a mixed media artist. I create my pieces mostly with painted vinyl, paint chip, and magazine cut-outs over acrylic painted backgrounds. My favourite themes to “paint” are cities, people, nature, landscapes, funny situations, and futuristic sites. My style can be described as surreal, abstract, cartoonist, circus like and playful, all together. I like to work with very eye-catching colours and shapes. My intention is to create in the viewer the feelings of joy, hope, happiness, movement, laughter, and excitement.
http://www.veronicadiago.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/veronicadiago



2. What do you enjoy most about working in this medium?

I believe that the cutting allows you to create very unique shapes that otherwise would be impossible to draw. The cut-outs give my pieces the "surprise element" with a magical, playful look. After I cut a shape, the negative is saved and then becomes part of any other composition. The cut-outs are constantly giving birth to new ones.



3. What challenges have you found in your work?

The challenge would be getting to the point when I consider a piece to be finished. When I'm creating my compositions, I experiment with layout possibilities and it's amazing how they each can communicate something entirely different, even though they're all done with the same elements. Sometimes I feel there's something missing, sometimes I feel there's too much. The final moments before a piece is complete, are the most challenging but yet the most exciting to me.



4. Where do you find inspiration?

Just like a child, I'm still amused by everything around me; I see wonder and inspiration almost everywhere. I see colours combinations, shapes and possibilities in, shadows, textured surfaces, water spills, nature and surroundings. I also find inspiration in all these Mid Century Mod children's books' illustrations (I still keep my old children's encyclopaedia which is almost all torn apart), the retro-future, cartoons (especially The Jetsons and a couple more from Hanna-Barbera) and Mid Century Modern design. Being an Interior Designer myself, I'm specially drawn to furniture and architecture, especially from this time period. It's kind of obsessive. I guess I like it so much because it reminds me of the furniture around me during my childhood. I was born in the early seventies, so as I grew up, these were still all over the spaces I frequently visited like my dad's office (He still keeps them, I wouldn't let him throw them away), my grandma's house, our school library, my paediatrician’s office, etc. I happen to have an extraordinary photographic memory, and that has helped me evoke my past memories with precision to apply them to my art. Nostalgia is very big element in my creations.



5. What are your favorite artists, designer or blogs.

My favourite artists are Charlie Harper, Joan Miro, Andy Warhol, and Henry Matisse. Among the nowadays artists, I love Matte Stephens, Amanda Kindregan, Josh Agle, Helen Dardik, Jennski, and a couple more. The blogs...my list is never-ending.

6. Where can we purchase your work?

My work can be purchased through my Etsy Store : http://www.veronicadiago.etsy.com



7. Do you have any new projects in the works?

Projects...I would love to illustrate children's books in the future. It was something I did a couple times as a child, just for fun. I enjoyed doing posters, project cover pages, and my sister's children's stories. I'd love to do it professionally.