Words by Kimberly Haddad
Painter and illustrator Zelda Bomba, has developed an eccentric, pop- style series of portraits, including Malcolm X, Kim Jung II, Spike Lee, Twiggy and more. Developing a bold, creative aesthetic with inspiration from counterculture, comics, music and fashion, Zelda strives to speak to a larger audience and has an innate desire to use color. Her innovative work has enlivened the streets of France and brightens the minds of artists and collectors alike.
BASIC: Your series of portraits are inspired by counterculture, comics, music and fashion. Are there any designers or illustrators in particular that have influenced the direction of your work?
Zelda Bomba: Tanino Liberatore, Tom Wesselmann, Jean Paul Gaultier, Piero della Francesca, Pierre et Gilles, Daniel Clowes, Hans Memling inspire me, as well as skate imagery and punk imagery. But I don’t really know how they influence me. They feed my brain and my eyes, they make me want to be creative, to create new things and to go beyond my possibilities.
BASIC: What are some of your very first memories painting and how did you learn?
Zelda Bomba: I am still learning; every day I learn. It’s an endless process. Fortunately, my first memories were a natural and innate desire to use colors, to draw faces as normal things to do in life. When I was a child, I loved looking at art magazines. I used to watch every detail. I remember watching “Goya, Saturn Devouring His Son” in particular. I’ve watched it for hours I think.
BASIC: Tell us about how you decided to move your art into the street. What is your favorite thing about creating art in such a public setting?
Zelda Bomba: Moving art into the street was a very important turning point in my work. At the beginning, it was a way to get out of my workshop, which is like a bubble outside of the world— comfortable and self-referential. When you decide to act in the street, the meaning of your work has a different meaning. Everybody can see your work and you can communicate with the people who usually go into galleries to see art. I’ve created a portraits gallery which includes men, women and different people in such a way that everybody, I hope, can find something familiar in the faces I paste up. I use pop culture characters too, and hope they brighten up the way to work during misty and cold mornings.
BASIC: In a world saturated with creatives, what steps did you take to develop your artistic style and how has it evolved since your first portraits?
Zelda Bomba: Saturation of images kills images because you don’t see creativity or quality. To develop my art, I just work a lot, every day. It’s the only way I know. I feed my mind with art, films, everything I see and read. Since my first portrait, the evolution is linked to technique and method. I’ve learned how to use colors and my portraits are getting older and deeper. Less details, more expression, more introspection, more concern.
BASIC: Can you tell us a little bit about your process when creating your art?
Zelda Bomba: I go to my workshop every day and when I start to work, I don’t really know what I want to do, but with my paintings, the connection is between me and myself first. I start to paint and I let the mood of the day drive the brush and choose the colors. I work very quickly; I like to start and finish a painting in a few days. My work is serial.
BASIC: In your series of portraits, which one is your favorite and why?
Zelda Bomba: My favorite painting is “No Clouds at All.” It’s my favorite painting because I painted it in January of 2015. A few days before, there was the Charlie Hebdo attack, which left me deeply and violently shocked. I was totally lost with an end of the world sensation that was quite new for me, a Western girl. I couldn’t paint for a week. I couldn’t do anything. But I decided I had to turn back to paint. It was a defense. “No Clouds at All” is different from my previous works because it marks a big change in my paintings, more consciousness, more presence. The painting is pacified, but it copes. It says, “I’m still alive.”
BASIC: What is your favorite genre of music to listen to while you paint?
Zelda Bomba: I know it’s strange, but I don’t listen to music when I paint. Each day I prepare my list of podcasts [which include] history, literature, sociology, biographies of artists and even strange criminal cases.
