Catarina "Glam" a smiley interview - I Support Street ArtI Support Street Art

Catarina “Glam” a smiley interview

Portuguese installation and sculpture artist Glam, speaks about the evolution of herself as an artist and how her art has evolved through the years. Check out her work if you dont already know it – monumental wooden creations inspired by animals, plants, hip hop and geometry! This is so Glam…-What you choose to drink? Coffee, Tea, Beer, Soda or something else?
Beer ☺

-Introduce yourself
I’m a Portuguese street artist from Lisbon. At the moment my main focus has been the sculptures and installations in wood that are the reflection of my path trough painting of graffiti and murals passing by the sculpture in paper and cardboard. Character design is the bridge between the various techniques I use. The demand for new materials made that my sculptures could be passed to the street because the introduction of the wood allowed to increase the scale of the pieces as well as giving them a greater resistance mainly abroad.

-Where does your tag name come from?
My tag came from the need to sign a word as a graffiti artist, with a combination of letters that I liked at the time and then gained meaning for me by accompanying me for many years.

-How do you define yourself? Artist? Street artist? Anything else?
At the moment I define myself as street artist or sculptor.

– How did it all start for you, and what is it nowadays?
Like most street artists my background came from graffiti. To paint my name on the streets or abandoned factories was what excited me.
Afterwards I dedicated myself for several years to the cardboard and paper sculpture, around the character design.
Nowadays my work is moving more towards the wood sculpture and installations and I am through a work in progress to develop new techniques o give life to my characters and be able to take them to the street in bigger dimensions.

-What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Brush my teeth.

-Street art is mostly a visually stimulating form of art. To add one more sense to it, what music would you pick to accompany your art work?
Hip hop music.

-In all forms of art, inspiration is crucial. What is it that inspires you?
Nature in general mainly animals and plants, geometric solids, the hip hop culture, tattoo designs, etc.

-What is the hardest part while working on a piece of art?
Planning the angles and the contruction of my pieces is usually the hardest part. As I am still learning to work with wood the execution sometimes also has its surprises, but it is part of it.

-Do you have an artist(s) you admire and what for?
I admire a lot of street artists and some artists who work with paper and wood. I also admire the Portuguese artists Bordalo II and Vhils for their immense artistic achievements.

-Which cities are the most inspiring for you?
Lisbon, Oporto and London.

-What other passions do you have apart from art?
My cat and bunny. ☺

-Do you have a wild project that you dream of achieving some day?
I would like to build a wooden installation on top of a tree.

-Tell us about your art, does it include symbolisms, messages or repeated patterns?
Geometric solids are my main starting point for developing characters. All my pieces have their own messages, usually adapted to where they are displayed.

– How long time does a piece of art work of yours usually survive for?
I’m still testing the durability of my pieces, but at least one year for a street wooden installation.

-What do people first think of, or feel, when they see one of your works on the street?
“it’s so fluffy i’m gonna die” hehe ☺

-Do you have a secret you would like to share with us? 🙂
I had already built two big wooden installations in abandoned factories about three years ago, but I gave up for a while because I thought they gave too much work to build. ☺

-What are your creative plans for the future?
I would love to build more complex and bigger installations around the world.

-Is there a specific thought or message you would like to pass to our audience out there?
Never give up on your goals without trying.