Ralau

Energetic, Electric and Supersonic

In an expressive, Keith Haring-like style, artist Ralau is incredibly sensitive to the world around her. Her work shows great emotional range on each canvas; whether it be a sound, an image, a fruitful encounter, they all feed her hunger for inspiration as she transforms them all into a vibrant and audacious visual language. 

Hello Ralau. Thank you for chatting with us today! Tell us about how your career as an artist began…

Painting really entered my life for the first time around ten years ago. Art brut was the first trend to really blow me away. At that time, my work was full of nuances and naively drawn shapes and forms.

Color already had a prominent place in my work, sometimes through abstract creations, sometimes through imaginary worlds and universes. From the beginning, the dreamlike dimension was always present in my work.

Then one day, my current style revealed itself to me, and as surprising as it was, it was not on a canvas that we met. In retrospect, this was already foreshadowing the essence and character of my paintings to come, which are vibrant, dynamic, almost autonomous.

It was on my bedroom walls and then my living room walls, that the lines just seemed to emanate from my hand, the paintbrush becoming almost an extension of my own arm. I willingly let myself be taken over by these impulsive brush strokes that had been pent up in my mind, longing to be let loose.

You use different media to express your creativity and release your energy. How do you choose them?

Belonging to generation Y, I am very much so inspired by the popular culture of the 80s and 90s, whose influence is omnipresent in my work.

K. Who are the artists and in particular women artists, who have inspired you the most?

My main sources of artistic inspiration are not actually in the graphic arts.

Music always accompanies my creative process, and in this realm, artists like Lisa Gerrard, Chelsea Wolf and Rachel Goswell are often behind the creative process that goes into my works.

I would also like to mention the performer Marina Abramovic and the photographer Chloé Rosser.

Electronic-supersonic

Acrylic Painting (146 x 114 cm)

K. Do you consider that being a female artist today as more of opportunity or a burden?

I think I’m lucky to be able to paint as a woman in this day and age; to continue the work of feminists that began decades, even centuries ago.

Today, it’s much easier to be a woman artist, yet nothing is easy, and the work of my male colleagues may still today be better received or taken more seriously than that of a woman.

Music life

Acrylic Painting (97 x 130 cm)

However, I want my work to be appreciated beyond my gender. For a fun anecdote, it does make me smile to know that those who don’t know me often associate my work with that of a man.

K. Of all your works in the « Women on the Rise » sale, which one speaks to you the most?

The painting Be Happy and Shut Up immediately comes to mind. It crystallizes thoughts that have often crossed my mind. One can make out a house, a car, a garden…

Be Happy and Shut up

Acrylic Painting (89 x 116 cm)

To be happy with our choices in life is what we all inherently want and getting to that point typically means that we have succeeded. But sometimes you have to take a step back and think of the good things going on in your life and not start comparing yourself to others. I myself have often felt out of step with people close to me in this regard.

Are these goals real personal projects, or are they just brought on by social norms? This artwork is in no way a judgment, but really opens up the conversation about personal fulfilment and life projects.

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Ralau’s Gallery