In focus

Q. Tell us about yourself and how you came to be an artist…

A. I’m Lola Erhart, a painter based in Bariloche, Patagonia Argentina, 34 years old, mother of two. I come from a big family, have 4 siblings, and we used to travel all over the place when I was a child. We lived in several countries, so, although this was exiting at first, during my adolescence it became tough to leave my friends and the comfort zone, so I held on to painting as a way of channeling all that movement and basically stay mentally sane. I never stopped painting since then. 

Q. What is your creative process when starting a portrait?

A. I start with a photo shooting of the model, basically friends in their own homes. And then with that material I go to the studio, select the chosen picture and start working. I work fast, and several paintings at the same time. I’m fast, one, because when raising kids there is not much time to waste, motherhood has definitely made me more efficient, and two because I’m certain that when I overdo and overthink a painting I totally fuck it up. Music and mate are part of my rituals to get on the mood. 

Q. What kind of relationship is at play in your work between the painter and the model ?

A. Portraits are a reflection of myself in interaction with the subject. Kind of a symbiosis. In fact the core of the painting really begins in the encounter with the model, and the quality of this bond reflects directly on the painting.

Q. How Patagonia influences your practice ? 

A. I’m originally from Buenos Aires, but I belong to the mountains. I came here in pandemia. It came clear to me then that the city was not for me, it’s overstimulating with stuff I don't need, I felt I had to grow a shell in order to operate in that environment, although I like to go once in a while, shake things up and have fun. 

Nature instead gives me perspective, beauty and the quietness I need to exist the way I intend. Here I feel I can open my pores and let it all in, maybe the only shell I need is a big mushy wool sweater to go by the winter. Time is slower and space is wider here.