Visit the Studio with Andrea Caldarise

The colorful narrative paintings of artist Andrea Caldarise feel both natural and real, while also warped and whimsical. Her works have a homey and familiar yet fairy-tale feel, filled with dark twisted trees and repeating shining silver moons. Like a trip down the rabbit hole, it’s a magical place inside Andrea’s work and her process.

Join us as Andrea takes us through her studio as painter, avid reader, and loving dog mom.

What materials do you use? And why?

I primarily use oil-based mediums. It's the unparalleled density of color, texture and luminosity that seduced me along with the history of oil paint. I really love that oils are an all-encompassing experience––that particular smell. When I start a painting, I get the sense I'm coming back to an old friend or entering a well-worn path. I'm engaging with this epic history through the ritual of palette and canvas preparations.

Drawing is a huge part of my studio practice as well. I prefer graphite, but I have just come across some older oil pastels which have been fun to experiment with. I like the planning process inherent in oil painting. You have to consider how the solvents and paint will interact, and map your compositions. The process of layering is analogous to the prevalent theme in my art practice––the revealing of new perspectives or unraveling our fixed reality.

Recently I started to paint on solid wood panels (from Artists and Craftsman, an employee owned art store), which are great because I can prime it any way I like and it gives me nice control over the final surface. Painting on the prepared wood shows every brush mark, you can get really technical or splash it around with some oil bars and then sand it down if you want to go back into it.

What is your artwork about? What does it speak to?

Public spaces are visceral, storied environments—my practice explores the psychological connection of people and place through the language of landscape painting. The work can act as an oculus for examining experiences, imagined moments, and accessing our collective memory. Each painting sets out to tell a story––a narrative––and I hope that it can continue the conversation long after it leaves my studio. I want the painting to shift over time, be adaptable and yet specific––you know, like re-reading a favorite book. It's never quite the same as that first read; each subsequent experience is overlaid on the time before.

Where do you get your inspiration?

The way we as a community move through and experience environments is thought provoking for my practice. Who walked this path before? Who's lived in that house? Does anyone else love this particular tree in Prospect Park? These questions have come up again and again in my practice and investigating the physical landscapes.

Walking through the park and reading about historical accounts are a big part of my process. I read a lot and I'm often inspired by authors who deal in magical realism. Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges and Haruki Murakami have influenced the way I think about space and time, our reality and the one just beyond our grasp. Carl Jung's theories on Synchronicity and the nature of phenomena are intriguing as they offer this scientific approach to breaking the fourth wall––that loss of stability in our known environment.

What is your typical routine when you get to the studio? Walk us through a typical studio day.

I typically try to bring my pug, Delacroix, to the studio as much as possible, though he's my biggest critic and very skeptical of all my paintings. Often, I start by making a cup of coffee and read for a little, sometimes working on a sketch. If I'm feeling particularly reticent about a painting, I might set-up a problem or task for myself––like a still-life drawing or trying to draw a dream. But if the work I'm currently involved with is calling to me, I'll start right away. I use a limited color palette, it's magical how much you can get from just 7 colors: Phthalo blue, Ultramarine blue, Alizarin crimson, Cadmium red, Cadmium yellow, Hansa yellow and white. I don't use black paint, choosing to mix it instead so it's less jarring. Though occasionally I will use oil bars in ochre or umber. I like to work on multiple paintings at the same time, especially since the layering can take time to dry––plus it's great if you get turned around in one painting to then hop onto something else and revisit the troubling one later.

Do you work at a particular size or scale? Why?

Looking through my paintings, I'm seeing that squares are my favorite, though I'm open to rectangles! But seriously, I think of the smaller works as baby paintings (under 20 inches) –– they're the ones I get to work out techniques or ideas on before jumping into a large-scale composition. The larger oil paintings can take months to complete as I develop a stream of research and drawings to establish source material to source from throughout the painting process.

What are you currently working on?

I've been working on some new paintings examining how nostalgic spaces exist in a strange crossroad between the memory of the places and our imagined realities that exist just beyond our perception. At the core of my painting practice, the work is about the energy and experiences that are, that might have been, and that could be. Someone recently described my work using the phrase "...each space seems like we've just arrived at the scene of..." This is so exciting to me, as I want to evoke narratives and memories using the language of landscape for viewers to experience an imagined or remembered moment.

In addition to the new works in progress, I'm excited to continue my ongoing series, Moon Phases and Like a Walk in the Park. They are separate bodies of work developed simultaneously and are informed by each other.

Which artists most inspire you and your work?

I love Alberto Giacometti, Casper David Freidrich, John Singer Sargent, Dorothea Tanning, and Hilma af Klint to name a few. I recently became obsessed with this book Landscape Painting Now: From Pop Abstraction to New Romanticism (2019) and it's got so many great artists in it who are all working today.

Do you balance another job in addition to being an artist?

Yes, up until very recently I managed public programs and audience outreach at a museum and before that I worked in higher education, managing student programs and community building. This is a super uncertain moment right now with onsite programming not likely to return in the near future so I'm really glad to have my practice to retreat into. My art practice has always been a place to explore and experiment in––it gets to exist no matter what's going on in the world. If I have paper and a pencil, I can draw!

Do you have any current or upcoming exhibits? Please share!

Yes, InLiquid curated two paintings into an online exhibition Vernal Longing. View the exhibition here!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this special peek into Andrea's creative environment! Even in a virtual age, we encourage all budding collectors to take the time to connect with the artists you love directly.

We want to remind you of our awesome artist messaging feature directly on the Art in Res site––reach out now and foster that creative energy! Have more questions for Andrea or Delacroix on her art and practice? Follow up with her directly via our messenger. We know she’ll be thrilled to answer any questions you might have. Ask about a specific painting or about her specific process in general––either approach works!