Welcome to part 7 of “Artist Spotlight”, an ongoing blog series recognizing artists from a variety of communities.

The following interview is with Lani Imre, our showcase artist from Feb-July, 2023

Lani paints in a contemporary style that reflects aspects of illustration, graphics, and street art. The bold, defiant characters she creates touch on themes of female identity and sexual fantasy while pushing against contradictory media depictions of femininity. By contrasting the fierce, the sensual and the vulnerable in her work, Lani’s primary objective is to give voice to the desires of women.

Lani has exhibited in many cities in Canada as well as Mexico and the United States. She resides in Squamish, British Columbia.

Interview with Lani:

How did your career as an artist begin and how has it shaped your life/progressed over the years?

By the time that I was graduating from grade 10, I knew I wanted to be an artist. I had always loved drawing and making art since I was a kid. I did really well in all my subjects in school and could have pursued a number of career paths, but fortunately I come from an artistic family and I have a Mom that always encouraged me to follow my passions. At the start of Highschool I transferred to the Langley School of Fine Arts. At 15 years old I gave up living with my family, my friends and riding my horses, all so I could do what I loved most. Since then I have lived in different countries, different cities and dabbled in a vast array of sports and other interests, but making art has always been constant through everything. I didn’t always paint, though. When I was in Art School I was primarily a ceramic artist. I focused on large-scale, wheel thrown and hand built sculptural ceramic pieces for 7 years. By the time a finally came around to painting, I was mostly finished with Art School, and painting just seemed more conducive to my transient lifestyle.
When I had worked in clay I had been fascinated by the textures and fixtures of the urban environment, so when I transferred into paintings I maintained that interest in the urban environment, but in a slightly different way, becoming intrigued with street art and culture. My family is also from the Bay Area CA, so I encountered a a lot of the scene from San Francisco with Barry McGee, Sam Flores and the Upper Playground Artists. Then, almost randomly, I got picked up by Ayden Gallery in Vancouver and that was the start of the artist community that I still associate with today.

How would you explain the general theme of the paintings in this exhibit?

My work is always about women. I don’t detour much from this theme. I am constantly intrigued by the strength and beauty that I see in women. I think my interpretations of being a woman have changed over time and with different experiences in life. There is a subtle biographical nature to my pieces, shown through the ways in which I choose to paint my images, how I choose to depict the characters. But I am always moving within the realms of fantasy and reality, comic-like and more realistic. I am interested in how society views and shapes women, and mostly I am just stuck in my own modest attempts to visually allude to what it means to be a woman on my terms.

Can you talk about the inspiration behind a few pieces?

The piece “Lynx” is a painting of an actual woman who lives in Vancouver. In my last series I did a number of paintings of women that I selected on the basis on the performance aspect of their art and the freedom of their self-expression. All of the women I painted in this series are dancers. Lynx is the final painting.

“Omen” is my first West Coast themed painting. The character is made up and has no direct reference. It is also one of the first paintings that I have completed entirely in acrylic and I was aiming for a more illustrative, comic style piece.

“Sueno” is a drawing from a much older painting from a time when I was designing a lot of characters with horns.

“Estrellita “ is a drawing for a painting that was part of my “Shooting Star” series. I created this series at the time I was pregnant and had just given birth. There were 4 paintings to this series “Estrellita” (Little Star), “Sola” (The Sun), “Luna” (the Moon), and “Dark Angel” (The Final).

Do you have any rituals in your process?

Yes. These days I generally paint from 12pm - 3pm when I pick my child up from school. If I don’t have to pick up my son up then I paint a little later in the day and I paint for longer. I always start with green tea and chocolate. That is my entire ritual. When I go into my studio I get started immediately. If I don’t know exactly what I need to do, I pick something easy and just get started with that. Ideally I have already taken a mental note the day before and I know exactly where I want to start in the current session. Sometimes I even make written notes of the areas I need to address and how. This keeps me on track and moving ahead without staling.

Future goals for your art?

Tons! Starting with gaining more exposure. I feel like I have been hiding away while my son has been small, and now I am able to have more shows and commit to more projects. So thank you for this show! Xo

Follow Lani and learn more about her art at:
laniimre.com
IG @laniimre