Interview with local artist Gabriela Berrutti

Gabriella Berrutti has been painting since she was a child, guided by one of the most famous Uruguayan painters, Nelson Ramos. Her creations aim at awakening happiness and positivity and we are very fortunate to have a few of Gabriella’ paintings in Villa NEO. In this interview we chat with Gabriella about what influences her and the paintings we have in Villa NEO.

Tell us a little about yourself and your art

I grew up in Punta del Este, which is a city on the Atlantic coast of Uruguay, South America. I have been living in Saint Barth for the last 15 years.

I recall the very moment when, as a small child, I first saw a box of colored pencils. I felt as if I was hypnotized. At that moment, an indescribable emotion overtook me. I discovered the feelings that those combined colors could produce in my being. Later on, I learned to write and at the same I began to draw.

I was very lucky to grow up in a family that was always interested in the arts and they gave me the motivation that I needed. I studied in private art schools and I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the school of Master painter, Nelson Ramos.

I graduated as a Doctor in Dental Surgery, the very same year that marked the end of a military dictatorship in my country. The School of Fine Arts was finally able to reopen and I was enrolled.

My life was divided between art and healing. I became interested in alternative therapies at a time when only a very few people were interested. I became a yoga professor and studied Traditional Chinese Medicine. I discovered the potential power of colors in healing. It was then that I realized that Art had a mission for me: that our planet needed a real change; a change beginning with a little thing performed every day by each and every one of us.

It was then that I started to paint while being connected to the best part of myself and the Universe.

What inspires you?

Inspiration comes by itself when one is connected with self and the universe. I have to make a conscious effort to keep going in one direction in order to finish one series of paintings. I would need several lives to be able to portray everything that comes to my mind in the form of artistic images.

Living in Saint Barth and being surrounded by so much natural beauty makes it easier. I get inspiration from the pigments of nature, the shapes and the light. I create my compositions beginning with colors and shapes. I like to work with acrylic, collage paintings, drawing with paper, ink , I do some digital paintings and “digitalize” some of my work.

I enjoy photography using a macro-objective lens to discover the minuscule shapes that would elude the attention of a simple look. I often incorporate these shapes into my compositions. I also do paintings that adapt to the unique inspiration that each villa has.

Tell us about the paintings we have in Villa NEO

For the masterpiece at Villa NEO, the owners’ selection was a diptych painting called “At Saint Jean”. One of them is very colorful with plenty of energy, joy, like the life in the neighborhood of Saint Jean and it makes a fluid transition to the other which is relaxing and peaceful with the magnificent color and uniqueness at St. Jean beach. Both have the energy that you need when you’re on holiday.

My creations are aimed to awaken consciousness, emotions, happiness, positivity, peace and love. Art teaches us to see the world excluding all that is superfluous, simply leaving just the essentials. People are able to heal their damaged emotions through color. We unconsciously choose the colors that we need to heal. It is an expression that allows us to discover infinite universes and to write wonderful stories.

What do you think about the setting of your art in the villa?

This villa has a charming, generous soul. It is more than a simple luxury villa. It has an enchanting elegance and design. Materials of the highest quality have been used with great attention to details. My artwork is placed at the heart of the villa and the colors that are reflected on the steel luminaries sparkle with joy so that their location is perfect.