ISABEL
M.MARQUES
She absolutely loves red. She is a
passionate collage artist and a language
teacher. Her collages bring you what she
calls "the feminine universe." Her works
are wonderfully expressive, full of color
and emotion. She tells achingly beautiful
stories in her own unique way. She will
be showing in Colombia later this year.
She is Isabel M.Marques. Imagery courtesy of
Isabel Marques. Interview by Kimmo Matias.
Can you first tell us a little bit about yourself and your
background?
I was born in April 3, 1968. My father was a photographer
and also painted. Art in general and specifically
photography, imagery were a constant at home. They
were part of my growing up, part of me and my daily
life, so close that I could not be disassociated / dissolved
from the whole process. I watched my father working
and painting. Later on I decided to become a teacher and
I've got a degree on teaching English and Portugese. I've
worked as a teacher since 1998.
Are you self-taught or did you have some formal
training?
My art is a self-taught process. I have no formal
academic training in the arts. I am, however, considering
applying to Arts University in Faro next year in order to
get a degree on arts.
How long have you been painting/ making collages/
expressing yourself through art?
Since I was 22 years old but I never published my work
or showed it to anyone, even my friends didn't know I
painted because I was very insecure and afraid of the
critics. When I was 42, I started again and, one day,
dared to show it to a painter friend of mine. He was
amazed I had never told or even showed my art to
anyone anywhere and said that I should. So 3 years
ago I started posting it on my Facebook page and last
year I created an artist page, Isabel Marques Art Page.
It's the only way I have published my work until now.
You do mainly collages of different kinds. Why this
particular way of expression?
My collages are still a work in progress. It's an
evolution of which I can't tell you much about, as it is
never really planned. It just happens... "accade" as
Italians say. I paint on canvas, give it the texture I
want. The selection of images is important for me
because there's so much imagery these days.
However I am very selective and not all images attract
me. I am attracted to a certain kind of imagery and
can't avoid looking systematically at all images I
confront each day. I can't immediately identify what
pleases me, be it their beauty or even their ugliness.