All of the places Lola Montejo has lived has influenced her aesthetic in ways that are as layered as her work itself. Lola was born in Portsmoth, England but since her family is originally from Spain, they returned to Madrid when she was very young. From there the family traveled until finally immigrating to the United States when she was a teenager. Arriving to the US the family lived in New York where Lola first experienced American abstraction. The New York School Abstract Expressionism and their unrestrained freedom of expression have been a lifelong influence in Lola’s work.
Each of these diverse places and people informs and inspires Lola’s work and serves as a foundation for Lola’s formal education; earning her BFA from the Metropolitan University of Denver where she studied on a full academic scholarship. Soon after, Lola did a graduate program at the University of Colorado Denver in Pedagogy and from there she continued her education at Azusa Pacific University in California where she earned her MFA in Studio Arts.
Lola now live in Denver, Colorado. She is a Professor at the Metropolitan State University of Denver where she teaches painting and drawing. She has exhibited her work in Colorado; California; Texas; Mexico City, Mexico; and Berlin, Germany. Her work is represented by William Havu Gallery in Denver, Colorado and Oehme Graphics in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Lola now live in Denver, Colorado. She is a Professor at the Metropolitan State University of Denver where she teaches painting and drawing. She has exhibited her work in Colorado; California; Texas; Mexico City, Mexico; and Berlin, Germany. Her work is represented by William Havu Gallery in Denver, Colorado and Oehme Graphics in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Artist’s Statement
I create paintings that combine the visual vocabulary of abstraction and expressionism by layering and juxtaposing incongruous forms, textures, and colors. Through a varied combination of studio techniques and processes, these paintings slowly reveal themselves. They are the synthesis of an experiential reaction to the materials I utilize, beginning with deliberate shapes and marks that are sourced from cut and torn paper. As I build or deconstruct the surface of a painting, I am engaged in a combination of inductive and deductive reasoning.
My paintings are an amalgamation of emotive, cognitive, and action-based gestures. When I think about gestures I think of emotion. The word gesture in Spanish is “gesto” meaning to move or be moved. Motion is both literal and implied throughout the act of making a painting and within the finished work of art. Through an interplay of color and form, the paint’s movement can appear both controlled and expressionistic. The painting itself functions as a transmitter of information, rather than an object.
Painting is a manifestation of experience and memory. It is a language that embodies an intuitive path while making aesthetic choices through deliberate moves. In this sense, my paintings are equally representational and abstract. They reflect my inner world and the environment around me. Combining disparate materials and forms alludes to how memories are constructed, fade, or change over the course of time. With a multitude of sources and recollections, the push and pull between abstraction and representation is reflective of our times.
I create paintings that combine the visual vocabulary of abstraction and expressionism by layering and juxtaposing incongruous forms, textures, and colors. Through a varied combination of studio techniques and processes, these paintings slowly reveal themselves. They are the synthesis of an experiential reaction to the materials I utilize, beginning with deliberate shapes and marks that are sourced from cut and torn paper. As I build or deconstruct the surface of a painting, I am engaged in a combination of inductive and deductive reasoning.
My paintings are an amalgamation of emotive, cognitive, and action-based gestures. When I think about gestures I think of emotion. The word gesture in Spanish is “gesto” meaning to move or be moved. Motion is both literal and implied throughout the act of making a painting and within the finished work of art. Through an interplay of color and form, the paint’s movement can appear both controlled and expressionistic. The painting itself functions as a transmitter of information, rather than an object.
Painting is a manifestation of experience and memory. It is a language that embodies an intuitive path while making aesthetic choices through deliberate moves. In this sense, my paintings are equally representational and abstract. They reflect my inner world and the environment around me. Combining disparate materials and forms alludes to how memories are constructed, fade, or change over the course of time. With a multitude of sources and recollections, the push and pull between abstraction and representation is reflective of our times.