IN CONVERSATION WITH GRAZIELA GUARDINO

Graziela Guardino’s woven painting-sculptures merge material experimentation with minimalist abstraction, deconstructing form to unveil new perspectives on nature, femininity, and ancestry.  Merging textile traditions with contemporary practice, Guardino highlights their historic role in abstraction, reimagining their symbolic depth for today's art world.

 

We had a conversation with the artist, about the work in the exhibition, Wandering in Reverie, her inspirtations and life in the studio.

 

Installation view Wandering in Reverie

 

A+W: Can you tell us a little about how the pieces in this exhibition contribute to the broader narrative of your practice?

 

GUARDINO:  This exhibition visualizes and conceptualizes my artistic journey, emphasizing deconstruction and balance through fragile fabrics and wood. Each piece embraces contradictions, showcasing how delicate and strong materials coexist and interact. The use of fragile fabrics in the artworks symbolizes vulnerability and transience, contrasting with wood's enduring strength and permanence. I wanted this interplay to invite viewers to reflect on fragility and resilience within their personal narratives. By deconstructing traditional notions of materiality, each piece challenges preconceived ideas about strength and fragility, hopefully starting discussions on vulnerability and balance in life.

I aimed to engage viewers through tactile and sensory experience, exploring textures,soft colours, and forms that create a dialogue beyond the visual. Each piece pushes the boundaries of materiality and meaning, ideally sparking conversations about balance and encouraging reflections on personal relationships with fragility, resilience, deconstruction, and construction.

 

Such Silence, 2024

 

A+W: There are various compositions in your works in this show, what is the relationship between the works?

 

GUARDINO:  These artworks are the culmination of ideas I've been developing over the past four years. They are an extension of previous works that were created in different series, but I believe that for this show, they become part of one large series. They continue my exploration of testing the limits of these materials, reconstructing them into something entirely new. The ongoing journey each material undergoes and the joy of challenging existing structures involve not only the physical form but also the concept of what a painting represents in the contemporary world.

In all of the pieces, I feel like I'm disrupting long-standing traditions of painting and textile work, aiming to reconstruct and reimagine cultural practices. All the artworks in the show share a common foundation rooted in exploration, materiality, structural questioning, and cultural discourse. The themes of fragility and resistance serve as connectors, drawing the pieces together into, in my view, a cohesive series that challenges and expands the viewer's perception of contemporary art.

 

How Perfect and Neatly Opens the Pink Rose, 2024

 

A+W: How do the materials and techniques you used in these works support the ideas you’re exploring?

 

GUARDINO: The primary materials—fabric and wood—reflect a transformative quality that echoes the themes of change and adaptability in my art. Fabric has a malleability that allows me to manipulate it in many ways. I can pull threads, sew, and tear it apart, which speaks to the notion of rebuilding and reimagining. This process mirrors the complexities of human experience—how we often reshape our narratives and identities over time. The ability to deconstruct and reconstruct the fabric creates a physical representation of resilience and the ongoing journey of transformation. In contrast, wood provides a sense of stability and strength. Its resistance serves as a counterpoint to the delicate, ephemeral qualities of the fabric. This juxtaposition highlights the tension between fragility and resistance, suggesting that strength and vulnerability can coexist. Each stitch and tear becomes a metaphor for life’s entanglements and the ways in which we are interconnected.

 

Detail of How Perfect and Neatly Opens the Pink Rose, 2024 

 

"IN ALL OF THE PIECES, I FEEL LIKE I'M DISRUPTING LONG-STANDING TRADITIONS OF PAINTING AND TEXTILE WORK, AIMING TO RECONSTRUCT AND REIMAGINE CULTURAL PRACTICES." - GUARDINO

 

A+W: Your titles often seem to carry weight or hint at hidden layers in your work. How do you approach titling your pieces? 
 
GUARDINO: My titles often emerge from a deep connection with poetry. There’s no strict order to my process; sometimes, I encounter a poem that resonates with the visual work I’m creating. Other times, I develop an artwork and later recall a line from a poem that perfectly encapsulates its essence. Prior to developing this exhibition, I immersed myself in the works of American poet Mary Oliver. Her themes usually address the intersection between the human and the natural world, both of which are fragile. All the titles came out of her poems. Sometimes they carry a hint or a sort of direction to lead the viewer to an interpretation. Take "Such silence!" for instance, where the poet talks about overwhelming quiet moments in nature and the noise of human experience, silence can be both a refuge and a void, showing the coexistence of tranquillity and chaos. In creating that piece, I aimed to cultivate a contemplative space, mirroring Oliver's approach, using raw materials to minimize distractions and emphasizing the inherent qualities and quietude of the medium, accented by a dramatically fallen arrangement of threads.

Sometimes, it was just a feeling in the moment, as in “How Perfectly and Neatly the Pink Rose Opens” from “How Perfectly,” where the image came to my mind while I was reading the poem. I wanted to create layers upon layers of painted threads to remind me of the perfect petals in the pink rose. I guess I was just trying to recreate that feeling of wonder that can be found in everyday moments and the beauty of nature, suggesting a kind of perfection in the way life unfolds.

 

Wake For Sunrises, 2024

Detail of Wake for Sunrises, 2024

 

"...In my work I aim to explore and balance dualities such as fragility and resilience, absence, and presence."  -Guardino

Through the Sheets of Clouds, 2024 

 

A+W:  There is always one piece that was harder than the rest. Can you share with us what piece was the most challenging to make and why?

 
GUARDINO:  Through the Sheets of Clouds was the most challenging piece I created for this exhibition. At first glance, it may appear minimalistic and straightforward, yet it represents my third attempt. The initial two versions now reside in my studio's recycling box. For this piece, I chose to explore a new shade of blue that I hadn't previously used with my textiles. The first obstacle was achieving the right colour combination to create the perfect tone of blue on the unraveled canvas. After a few trials, I finally discovered a blend that felt just right. However, the real challenge was in how the pigment would engage with the linen canvas. I went through four different canvases before finding one that absorbed the pigment in the way I envisioned. Each material possesses its unique texture and absorbency, significantly affecting the final colour outcome. I adjusted my techniques using more mediums and water to ensure the pigment adhered properly, showcasing the luminosity and softness I had in mind. It was only in the final week of the making that I decided to incorporate an additional layer of threads, and sensing that the piece needed a touch of brilliance, I added a layer of iridescent silver that reveals subtle sparks, visible only as the light changes and the viewer shifts their perspective.

 

 Installation view Wandering in Reverie

 

A+W: Can you share the journey that led you to your current artistic practice?
 
GUARDINO:  I have been passionate about creating from a young age. When I turned 14, my mother enrolled me in an oil painting class to help me learn various techniques and explore art history. For about four years, I received private tutoring, which deepened my understanding and skills in the medium. However, my family viewed art more as a hobby, so when it came time to choose a university path, I opted for a degree in visual and social communication instead of fine arts. As a result, my artistic pursuits took a backseat for a while.

Everything changed in 2008 when I moved to New York. Surrounded by incredible galleries and museums, I felt a need to make art again. Soon after I moved to Australia, where I enrolled in painting short courses before pursuing a Master of Fine Arts by coursework in 2013. Later, I relocated to Hong Kong and embarked on another journey, completing a Master of Fine Arts by research in 2017.

Since then, I have fully committed myself to art, practicing every day as a full-time artist.

 

A+W: What themes or ideas drive your work, and how do you explore them through your chosen medium?
 
GUARDINO:  I find myself interested in the delicate nature of human existence, and in my work, I aim to explore and balance dualities such as fragility and resilience, absence, and presence.  I utilize materials with transformative qualities to reflect these themes. By
deconstructing fabric—pulling threads one by one—I often leave a piece precariously held together by a single thread. In those moments, I return to add layers of paint, reinforcing its strength. I see this process as a metaphor for life itself; we often find ourselves in cycles of destruction and repair.
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Hiatus Rose II, 2024

 

A+W: Can you describe your studio environment? How does it influence or shape your work?
 
GUARDINO:  My studio was built inside a warehouse in Sydney, Australia. The interior features wooden walls and a touch of natural light, but I predominantly rely on artificial lighting—something I prefer for its consistency throughout the day, especially when working with colour. To one side, I have a dedicated storage area, while the remaining three walls are filled with my artworks.The high ceiling is lined with bins and bars, allowing me to hang various installations. In the center of the studio, I have my worktable and sewing machine.  We relocated to this space about five years ago, and it has significantly transformed my practice, enabling me to experiment with larger scales and more ambitious installations.

 

A+W: Lastly, we'd love to learn about projects or plans you are exploring in your practice in 2025?
 
GUARDINO:  This year, I hope to have more time to dedicate to my installations and larger-scale artworks. I also have an art residency in NSW, Australia, where I will spend month with a fellow artist. We are planning to conduct more research within the local community on a beautiful project that will investigate the fragility of the local nature.  We want to develop a collaborative project with partnering artists, where they can draw on gathered research centered around the history of habitat, as well as the current and future risks that the forests of our world face. I am very excited about this project.
 

Graziela Guardino in studio

 
Guardino's work is featured in a two-person show at the gallery, Wandering in Reverie, alongside Senem Oezdogan. 

 

Guardino earned a MFA from RMIT University and an MFA from UNSW Art & Design. She has participated in prestigious residencies, including the Bundanon Artist Residency and the Institute of Contemporary Art Residency in Singapore. The artist's work has been recognized through numerous awards, including the Waverley Art Prize and honorable mentions from Art Matters Galerie Biesenbach. Her work is held in collections such as the Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore, the Alessandro Stein Collection, and private collections across Australia, Brazil, the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, and Hong Kong.

 

For more information on available works by the artist, contact gallery@ardenandwhitegallery.com

 

March 1, 2025