Creator Q&A with : Fotini Galanes

Contemporary Artist

photo credit - Mark Dellas

In a few words state who you are, your occupation and what it is that you create.

Fotini Galanes

Contemporary Artist

Graphite Drawings

Describe what you see when you look out your window.

Cold rain

What is a podcast, book, or song that is keeping you sane?

The Next Big Idea

What is a word that makes you laugh?

Laura

Our persons who make us laugh have been vital during this time.

What is the color of your current mood?

It’s always every shade of Blue.

Maybe because I am an air sign (so I’ve been told)

What is something that brings you joy?

My son Martino

He’s sixteen and extraordinary.

COVID-19 aside, what frustrates you?

Judgment

My work is founded in judgment. I have been sensitive to it since childhood. I have no tolerance for it.

What do you feel most hopeful about?

Random acts of kindness

When I witness RAK it is restorative.

How do you define your creative process - what makes you tick, what is your practice?

A constant state of need to communicate

My work is a compulsion. The act of it sustains me.

Photo by: Lisa Langer

What is something challenging you’ve accomplished as a creator?

Abandoning the fear of judgment.

I withdrew from representational work looking for beauty in deformity. The jump from realism to abstract work was frightening and blind.

Name an artist or creator you draw influence from?

I am not.

There are many artists I am in awe of. But none that have influenced my work.

How has COVID-19 affected you? Have you changed your process during quarantine?

In every way. And no.

In your opinion what do you think the “new normal” should look like for our global society?

Respectful towards differences

We have been looking for how we are all different. Instead, we would be looking for how we are all the same.

What do you look forward to most once quarantine restrictions are lessened?

Hugs

In closing, describe or reflect on an aspect of nature that inspires you.

Movement, the minuscule and change.

For as long as I can remember I have seen the world in its assembly. When I was little, I believed this was my special power. I secretly still do.