Meet Marina Btesh

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marina Btesh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Marina, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

I never asked myself this question, I think it is within me since ever, it’s natural, I’m confident . But if I have to answer I would say it comes from my mother

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

How do I introduce myelf ? I do not belong to any classic category, I am neither a painter nor a sculptress. Experimenting, searching, using, transforming, recycling, are actions that represent me. So, in one first definition I would say : I investigate substance and work in space.

What happens if….? This is a question I always ask myelf and it is the starting point to work and experience with materials.
Through time, I have discovered two powerful tools: heat and chance. Heat because its action confronts me with the irreversibility of these transformation proceses. Chance because I work without previous sketches or plans, accepting the unexpected

I look for the potential of the substance that you can’t see at first sight, forcing it to go beyond the accepted limits. I experience in the frontiers of where something is and where something might be.

I am interested in what is unique; however, many times I manufacture or produce, repeating the process once and again and going far away from the same result. I find pleasure in experiencing. Parts, which are works themselves, turn into a work of larger scale.

In another approach to what I am interested as a person and an artist, I would say, that in the natural world I am attracted to : plants, and stones, and as an urban being in everything that for some reason is thrown away. I try to transform it and give a new opportunity.

Nowadays I’m working with texts from the news paper in risk of disappearing and trying to use new technology and social media (quite hard as I’m not a digital generation)

In my “atelier” everything is posible, it is there where everything takes place and I feel freedom.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

It’s very personal ,so I’m not sure if it’s a good advice for many people. I would choose curiosity, surprise and confidence. It’s the way I work, I use to say that ” things talk to me” and when I listen I start doing what it tells me. That’s the first reason to explain the diferent materials and works I’ve done.I prefer to find instead to look for because I’m open to whatever can happen. I love Picasso saying: I don’t search, I find.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I have always been working with other artists many times in different works. Also many of my projects are collaborative because I find the exchange as a way of enrichment, I do like working in public spaces, where people is not only in art spaces as galleries o museums. Virtuality is another way to work in collaboration, so I’m trying to explore its possibilities.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.marinabtesh.com.ar
• Instagram: @marinabtesh @besosparaelcielo
• Facebook: Marina Btesh