Meticulous, Coloristic & Philosophy: An Interview With Lea Laboy

This interview features the remarkable Lea Laboy, an innovative oil painter celebrated for exquisite still-life compositions. Known for meticulous attention to detail and unique colouristic analysis, Lea's work transcends traditional boundaries, inviting viewers to explore the profound beauty in everyday objects.

In this interview, Lea shares the inspiration behind the stunning paintings and discusses the philosophy of 'pure art,' a principle that underscores the artist’s commitment to creating meaningful and enduring works of art.

Join us as we uncover the layers of Lea Laboy's artistic journey, passion for still life, and unwavering dedication to the art form.

Lea Laboy. Image courtesy of the artists.

SAH: Lea, can you tell us the inspiration behind your stunning still-life paintings? What drives you to focus on this particular genre?

LL: From my point of view, still life is the noblest painting subject. A painter can control the composition, form and colour, which allows him to "create art for art's sake".

I think that painting depicting still life is a bit like salty chocolate, everyone likes chocolate (except me) but not necessarily of the salty variety. Still life is simply a niche topic. You know, it's not an act that will attract a male audience, it's not even flowers that will move a female audience, it's raw still life in all its everyday beauty.

So all you have to do is get out of your comfort zone and feel it.

I am amazed when I look at an ordinary metal spoon. I see it there are at least several dozen different shades in it, but when I ask someone what's the colour of this spoon, they all unanimously say that it is grey, but this is only a half-truth resulting from the fact that they "don't look" and therefore "don't see".

When you teach someone to look, you open up new opportunities for them to experience reality and this is magic because the way of looking can change what we see and how we perceive it. Still life awakens a person's sensitivity to the beauty of form, proportion and colour, so for me, it is a natural choice because this is where I fully realize my creative assumptions.

Lea Laboy. Red Clover. Oil on cardboard.

SAH: Your technique in oil painting is quite remarkable. Could you walk us through your process from start to finish?

LL: The starting point in my work is many hours of observation combined with colouristic analysis. This is the moment when I determine what the character of the still life will be. I only work with three primary colours with a small amount of white. I never use the colour black because it does not exist in nature as such, and thus creates a visual "hole" in the image, being a foreign element in it.

I always paint on cardboard, which I prepare according to the recommendations for painters from the end of the 19th century. Previously, I worked on canvas, which I prepared myself according to the method given to me by the professor.

However, I gave it up for two reasons, first all because I don't like the texture of the canvas, and secondly because the quality of the canvas, which mainly comes to the European market from China, is very poor. The canvas stretched on the loom cannot pass the elasticity test because it cracks at the first attempt. When it comes to paints, these are, of course, oil paints that contain a high percentage of pigments.

Summing up, my painting "lives" in my imagination before the last brushstroke touches it.

SAH: We've noticed a lot of intricate details and textures in your work. How do you achieve such realism in your paintings?

LL: I am an impressionist who draws from nature, but not a realist, much less a photorealist, as my painting is increasingly often incorrectly described. My goal is not to faithfully copy the object but to convey its fleeting nature. If you look closely at my painting, you will see many brushstrokes in the same place, but you will also see that the contour does not define the form.

This kind of "inaccuracy" is intentional because it is the colour combined with the light that defines the form. It took me a long time to realize and accept this. I had to allow myself to abandon the contour without remorse. conscience that I was moving away from painting perfection. It was a step in the opposite direction and a breakthrough in my understanding of painting, which I owe mainly to Monet and Boznańska.

The further from perfection, the more spectacular the effects of conveying the nature of the object, because beauty is not perfection, but everything that reaches its limit but does not cross it.

Lea Laboy. Morning in the Forest. Oil on cardboard.

SAH: How do you choose the subjects for your still-life compositions? Is there a particular story or theme you aim to convey through them?

LL: As I have already mentioned, my painting is not limited by style. The main principle is to study the interactions of colors, form on form, light on color, etc. to constantly enrich your painting language. The principle should be, of course, that the object itself is not important and that it acquires its importance through the context in which it is located.

Of course, I'm only human and sometimes my preferences prevail. My favourite material is glass because it gives me a substitute for painting air (something that is obviously impossible for anyone to paint). I also like to paint metal and the roots and stems of wildflowers. I also often move towards wilting or damaged flowers because in this form they gain expression for me.

SAH: Your website mentions exploring "pure art" that examines and questions reality. Can you elaborate on how this philosophy influences your artwork?

LL: I was lucky that from the very beginning of my adventure with art I stayed in the environment of artists who had their significant place in art and for whom art was a lifestyle, not a job. They told me many times that "making art" is not a party with fireworks where everyone applauds because you put a line or a dot on the canvas.

On the contrary, it is often hard work, many hours without a time limit, in which you will not always satisfy others or yourself. It is a sinusoidal graph when, in the euphoria of successes, you won't even know when you've reached the bottom of despair, in which yesterday's award is already a memory and those who applauded continue applauding, but not for you. In all this, however, they always left me a direction from which I cannot deviate: "art for art's sake".

That is, creating what I feel based on the knowledge I have without betraying these principles for the sake of "success" for any award or even the "appeasement" of the audience. I accepted this principle because, like them, I love painting and I want to protect this heritage, that has been passed down to us by past generations. I don't understand artists who create on "command" what sells because, as professors said, it's not art, it's "hackwork".

To sum up, I believe that if painters who follow this rule disappear, painting will disappear, only Instagram full of "hackwork" will remain. The only question is what will happen to this "art" when Instagram disappears?

Because nothing on this earth is eternal. Let us recall here the words of one of the most controversial figures of the French Revolution, George Danton, who said that every Revolution, like Saturn, devours its own children."

Lea Laboy. Rose Jam. Oil on cardboard.

Lea Laboy. 390923. Oil on cardboard.

SAH: How has your style evolved over the years, and are there any specific artists or movements that have significantly influenced your work?

LL: I wouldn't like to talk about my "style" because for me style is a closed circle with no space for development. And I am one of those artists who are greedy for knowledge in variousfields.

I experience sadness, joy?

Okay, this is what the image will be like because these are the feelings I'm resonating with at this moment.

Therefore, none of the paintings is a continuation of the previous one, but only a collection of collected experiences that, in one way or another, are more or less revealed in it.

When it comes to the trends and artists that fascinated me, this is a wide topic. These are certainly artists who have "extensive" biographies, artists who are internally conflicted and remain between the choices of "selling themselves" and "staying true to themselves". Frida Kahlo was such a discovery and support in difficult moments of my work because I look at the world through her eyes and, like her, I remain an uncompromising person if I believe in something.

At this point, for example, I get to know Monet's notes and I kind of rediscover him as an artist, and this great affinity appears again, caused by the feeling of dissatisfaction, the fact that you cannot even paint air, although you can create a substitute for it by defining the mutual relations of objects. Not to mention Władysław Strzemiński who rebelled against the authorities to continue creating without joining the political system.

When it comes to directions, I definitely minimize it because I can't stand "verbalising" images and all this fashion imposed by Google algorithms requiring descriptions of what is in the image because, as my painting professor used to say, "For God's sake! If you want to describe what is in the painting, dear children, abandon painting and start writing.", Impressionism because it reflects the nature of things and conceptualism because italways reminds me that the idea is as important as the technical and aesthetic side of the painting.

SAH: Do you have any upcoming projects or exhibitions that you are particularly excited about and can share with us?

LL: Frankly, I am still involved in some projects, if I am not participating in them, I am creating them. Currently, I am presenting three of my paintings in a gallery in Dubai and it is exciting for me because it is the first time that I have the pleasure of showing my painting here, especially since I have received so many nice comments.

Of course, there is also a lot of excitement because of the exhibition of a collective of artists from all over the world that will take place in Milan in October. My secret dream is also to finish a new painting so that in August I can present it to a gallery in Venice, because in my opinion Venice is the most important cultural place in the current artistic arena.

Lea Laboy. Persia. Oil on cardboard.

SAH: In the evolving art world, what are your thoughts on traditional painting versus digital painting and those created by artificial intelligence?

LL: I was thinking about your question and I think that instead of the term “evolution” I would use the word “devaluation”. When we talk about evolution we are talking about something that over time has changed from a simple form to a more complex, more perfect form. Digital painting or painting created by artificial intelligence does not fit into the same category as traditional painting, so we cannot talk about the emergence of a more perfect form of painting.

Attempting to equate digital painting or painting generated by artificial intelligence is simply devaluing traditional painting.

In order to get into the Academy of Fine Arts, I remind you that you are entering a competition, you must pass many exams in theory and practical exams. Demonstrate knowledge of color, composition, proportion, anatomy and the ability to apply them. There are often about 20 candidates for 1 place, so if we consider that painting generated by artificial intelligence or digital painting is identical to traditional painting, we should eliminate the Academy of Fine Arts.

All you have to do is buy a program with a monthly payment of $59 and "generate" instead of wasting time studying at the Academy of Fine Arts. The current reality is that people are becoming comfortable and it's not about painting, it's about "success" in any field, and because digital art or art generated by artificial intelligence creates the "illusion" of art, it's a good path for those who want to achieve quick success.

You know, it's easy to become an artist because "everything is art" and there is no risk like in the case of becoming an engineer who builds bridges and his knowledge and skills are verified by whether the bridge collapses or not. In painting, if you make a mistake because you don't have the knowledge or skills, no one will die and it's enough for you to say that it was an "intentional" action.

Only those who have studied painting can see the mistakes, as evidenced by the situation in which I was asked to assess the condition of an 18th-century icon. When I saw it, I was shocked that these people did not recognize that they had been sold an ordinary print, sloppily sprayed with paint and aged using a preparation available in most paint shops. In my opinion, this is a slippery slope with the devaluation of the value of traditional painting, a form of "Overton Window" at this point at level five, i.e. "popular".

Lea Laboy. Field violet. Oil on cardboard.

SAH: Your artwork has been featured in various magazines and exhibitions. How has the exposure influenced your career and artistic approach?

LL: Honestly, I am not a “media” artist or a painter who is making or wants to make a so-called career. I have withdrawn completely from competitions since the moment when the winners of one of them were announced on Instagram before the applications were closed.

In my head, there is an image of a painter from the turn of the century who always stands behind the easel and not in front of it.

I focus on painting, reading, education and of course God because if there was no such most important relationship in my life, everything else would not matter.

I am constantly asked for my Instagram, Facebook or Tiki Tok, but please forgive me, but after reading books by George Orwell, Klaus Schwab or watching the full-length documentary by Jeff Warrick “Programming the Nation?”. Being there would define me as a philistine.

That is why I appreciate even more that such prestigious art magazines have distinguished my work by presenting it together with my profile as a painter on their pages. As for my artistic approach, it has not changed, I still believe that work and education are keys to many doors, and although it is obvious that you will always encounter more that are opened only by "methods", but you still have the choice not to try to open them or go through them.

SAH: Lastly, what advice would you give to artists at the beginning of their career?

There is a saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" and there is some truth to it. So my suggestion? Don't listen to anyone's advice because you will end up where the person giving it wants you to go but not necessarily you yourself.

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More information about the artist:

Website: www.lealaboy.com