Translation Forbes France
LOLO LOREN – The Winning Traits of a Successful Artist.
Most artists who have achieved extraordinary accomplishments are determined to meet their goals and have the discipline required to follow through. They are motivated by something.. Successful artists take the time to develop their creative career and have found ways to make a successful living while at the same time pursuing their passion.
We meet Lolo Loren who seems to master the art of discipline to proactively integrate weekly, daily and hourly activities that will deliver results. These traits are perhaps the most important building blocks for success.
Dutch in origin and, perhaps, this is already the first reason why she has made a successful art career – she studied economics.
Lolo is anything but conventional, she has lived in Ibiza for a long time. Although she travels the world for her art, “with a long list of exhibitions”, Ibiza is her home. Painting was an escape from the conventions that threatened to surround her.
There is never really a plan of what to paint or what to show the world, she explains. Although she has developed a strong style, the creation takes place in ‘the place between’ and sometimes it takes Lolo years to understand the painting she has made.
Many of her large-scale paintings contain a mix of materials such as sand, raw pigments, extra pieces of canvas, arabic gum, oil and acrylic paint. Those mixed media canvases used to have a layer of epoxy, but her love for nature made her think differently about the toxic epoxy. The beautiful glossy gave way to authentic raw canvases of pure cotton. Due to the high demand for the epoxy ‘style’, she found a more eco-friendly resin and started using it again, bringing the two contrasting ways of working together.
Lolo also experiments with photography which became more popular, and so it was that at ArtBasel Miami (reddot) a major art collector bought a picture of her rear, and as the Dutch say; ““dit was een veer in haar reet’’’ ( this was a feather in her ass ), and a step up in the art world.
What does your artwork represent?
The art I make is a mirror of my soul, it’s about how I feel, my outlook on life and what that does to me. You see my art going in waves, some days are brighter than others.
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
Last month I was in Milan to prepare my exhibition, a gallery owner asked me if I knew this and that artist, I said no. She looked at me rather askance. It is true that I invest too little time in what is happening in the art world. My inspiration and what truly interests me just lies elsewhere and in return I asked if she had ever heard of the country of Guyana and Mount Roraima, the source of the Amazon river systems, the source that produces the clearest purifying water and attracts the most beautiful flora and fauna. That’s what inspires me; nature and world problems, great leaders who make a big impact like Gandhi and Mandela. Obviously she had not.
I was very taken by the extreme strict lockdown in Spain, I had so much to say about it, it felt like everything I kind of believed in went haywire, so I painted everyday to express my deepest frustrations and thoughts, I never created so much as in those 9 weeks.
We hear a lot about NFT’s now, are you also open to experience with NFT’s?
Yes and I’m launching NFTs for 18 of my photos that will be featured in my next exhibition ‘A sense of freedom’. The exhibition will be physical and digital with a space created to step into the Metaverse. I decided to wait to create NFTs of my paintings, but I’m making some cool videos/GIFs. The collection will be launched soon on Polygon Blockchain. Polygon will go CO2 negative in 2022. When this goal is achieved, Polygon will work towards becoming the first blockchain to be climate positive. As I try to contribute and make sure that I think about climate change, the choice of Polygon made logical sense to me.
What have you learned from the process of selling your work?
Ambition, stamina and perseverance are as important and characteristic as a willingness to challenge yourself in the highly critical art world. There is no harder world than this, validation comes and goes through criticism, a lot of ego and the amount of work you sell. If you had times you didn’t sell, well.. you are sure not accomplished. Uncertainty is just around the corner because with every exhibition you are exposed, giving everything, and my work is a mirror of my soul, it feels like I’m standing naked in the room with people watching me.
If you buy a piece of art of me you buy a little piece of me. I’ve learned that it takes an average of 7 encounters in what ever shape of form to come to a sale, thanks to this knowledge I’m much more relaxed when a potential client doesn’t buy on their first visit.
Last but not least, Do you have any exhibitions coming up?
Yes I am working on the exhibition ‘A sense of freedom’ which will be held over the summer time and I will launch my NFTs at the same time.
Both the physical photo selection will be shown and NFTs will be launched simultaneously. However, my aim with NFTs is to build a bridge between tangible and digital art that is accessible for all to understand and participate in.
“How free are we or how free do we think we are? A question, in my opinion we ask ourselves more than before. I’ve been taking pictures of people in different locations and situations for the past few years without knowing that after 2020 those same pictures were no longer possible, temporarily I hope to take more. No masks, no fear, no war, no restrictions, no social distancing. Where are we now?”
My goal, as I write above, is to stay real and physical, to feel the actual interaction with a work of art and to trigger your emotions while looking at it.
Instagram : @_Lolo_Loren_
