Atmosphere has a way of informing the feeling or emotion in a moment, and in the visual world of Federico Infante, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the space around us. We visited Federico’s scenic studio in Chester, VA, to discuss his upbringing in Chile, creating narratives, breaking barriers, and the power of advocating for the arts.

CultureWorks: Who are you and what’s your story?
Federico Infante: My name is Federico Infante. I was born and raised in Chile. I moved to New York in the United States when I was 29, and that was almost ten years ago. There, I went to an art program, School of Visual Arts, and then I dedicated some years to do some shows in New York. I got to meet some galleries, and did some networking. Then, I met my wife, Eliza, and we moved back here to Virginia, where her family is from, and where she created Lamb Arts.

From here [in Virginia], I've been doing most of my work for some of the galleries in New York, Italy, and Chile.

CW: What was the initial thing that encouraged you to move to the U.S. from Chile?

FI: That's a good question. Back in Chile, there was a feeling, like every artist, of a general need to grow and discover new places, and test or challenge yourself a little bit more. I knew that I had it in me, the ability to learn a different language and get to know new people. So, I tested the waters by applying for a scholarship that the government was offering back then. I got it, and I was terrified of course. Then, I applied to a few schools in the U.S., and I made it to New York. That was kind of like the little fire to push me; to know that I have it in me, and say, “Let's just go ahead and see if I can actually do it.” By putting yourself in different circumstances, you can affect your work as an artist. Everything you discover is like a new tool that comes into your process and then eventually is put out.

When I moved to New York, I dedicated myself to school. Basically, I took those two years off from painting, and I was just doing what the classes wanted me to do. But, for my thesis show, I went back to painting, and I felt all that information, everything that New York had, and the experience just coming out. That was a very good learning experience.

CW: Going into that creative work as a painter amongst other mediums, how did you hone in on your focus or niche in your work through subjects and style?

FI: I’ve been drawing and painting since I was a kid. There was art in my house when I was growing up. So, I've always been inspired by that. Then, art school came and you start trying more, and they push you to explore. It was after that I discovered a relationship between the atmosphere in the paintings and the single figure. It felt personal, like I was doing something that I enjoyed, and I had good feedback from people that saw it.

After many years of doing this, the process itself keeps repeating on every painting, and I think a lot of things change. That's another fascinating thing about the medium of painting. Why I chose painting, in the beginning, is because it's endless. You manipulate one little thing, and everything is like a chain reaction. The figures and their relationship with the space was a personal thing that I was putting into the images, and I thought, this is myself. It was a little bit of understanding my place in the world as an individual and my relationship with my surroundings, with my space.

There was an effect coming here to Virginia and its open space, walking around, there's air, there's space everywhere. The studio helped it all click, finding this figure relating to a larger space, to a broader universe. That's when I started doing the sculptures, as well.

CW: With your subjects of these solitary figures, is there anything that brings you to that figure? Are they inspired by certain people you meet?

FI: The initial feeling is personal. It needs to express this relationship with the environment, with the atmosphere. But, when it comes to the details of the figures, I think that's the narrative storytelling of my work, where I want the viewers to recreate their own stories. That's where I start introducing different elements, and those are elements that are happening within the timing of the painting. Like, [refers to painting] that girl with the big cello there, I remember going through that painting and being fascinated by the shape of the cello and the sound that they make. So, to include it, there's an initial fire that comes to the painting, and to all pieces, but each one of them reacts to the specific timing in my work. That guy [referring to another painting] with the piano floating, that was specific timing. Sometimes I react to elements such as watching a movie, reading something cool, talking to someone.

CW: I love the experience as a viewer going to an art show where you might not have the context of who these figures are, but you can begin to imagine as you're traveling through.

FI: Yes, I think I like to create that bridge with the audience. I like to bring them into the energy that's hidden in the canvas through those elements. It could be a figure who might relate to you or who you understand. Through that, you start connecting to the other elements in it. I've had people, I like to believe, that were truly connected to the figures because they see themselves or they see someone that they know, like, "Oh, that's my niece," or "that's me."

CW: On a larger scale, how have you felt your artwork connect to the community around you, maybe since moving down to Virginia?

FI: I mentioned that it's about the relationship with my environment. As soon as I moved here, and all the experiences that I started having, most of them coming from my wife's work in Hopewell and learning about Hopewell's community, the projects that we do together, like the Billboard Project; I have found myself on a journey to get to know myself and my reaction to this community specifically. I believe that it affects me directly, as soon as I'm present in this place. For example, with the sculptures, that was a feeling that I felt, and it was because of the move here. I believe that there's a real interaction with the community all the time. Everything I have made from the time that we moved, I will say has been influenced by my time here.

CW: Going into these experiences, have you had a collaboration with another artist or space here that has impacted you, or a particular show that was meaningful?

FI: Yeah, I am lucky to have the representation of the galleries, because I get to put my work on display. That's a dream. That's the last part that art needs. You process it first in your head, then you create it, then it lives outside, connecting to the audience. Every show that goes up, and every piece that is exhibited is in that collaboration. I will say that my work with Lamb Arts and everything that Eliza has been doing has just opened my eyes to a totally different level of engagement. At the Arts Fest last year, we had the large “Hope” painting sitting in the building, and we had people coming over to look at it, seeing the figure, and seeing their children represented in it. It was a whole new level of interaction and the power of the art. I would say that my work with Lamb Arts has really opened my eyes to a lot of things.

CW: Lamb Arts does a lot to introduce art to youth who may not have had access or exposure to it or have not felt the importance of art to them, which is so cool. Do you have any words of wisdom from your own experiences for growing young artists?

FI: I don't know if it's possible for anybody to 100% relate to other people's life experiences. But, I do know the feeling of being told that the concept of creating art is a little bit of a privilege, a hobby, a game, that you can't make a living out of it, all of those things. I do have those voices in my head. I come to the studio pushing these voices out of the way. They don't go away, and they might never go away. So, my advice or my observation to that is, you do have to do that work first. You have to clear your head from those things that are telling you not to do this, not to express yourself, not to write a story, not to take a photograph because it doesn't have a meaning. My thought is to be aware that those voices are going to tell you not to do it, and your first fight is against your own mind stopping you from it. Once you climb that wall and you're able to put that image that you have in your head, that feeling, that need to create something on a surface, in a medium, and exist in the world outside of yourself, it will start opening doors because people will see it, and people will react. You'll realize that they have the same feeling, and they want to do the same thing. You have to be a little bit of a warrior in the beginning.

CW: You talk about coming to the studio and pushing those barriers out. What helps feed your creativity when you are away from the studio or when you’re experiencing an artist’s block?

FI: Life, in general, is everything; the big source of creativity. Being aware of that is the first thing when you're experiencing your blocks. I do experience blocks all the time when creating art. Living out of your paintings and your work, it's not something that comes easy. You have to pay bills, you have to feed yourself, to feed your family, but when those moments come, I stop, I get out of the studio, I do some woodworking, I take my dog outside, I sit with other people and talk about things. I complain sometimes and say, “This is not going to work,” but then it always comes back. You wake up the next day or a few days later, and that energy clicks; all of a sudden you think, I'm going to try that and start again. What I've learned with time is to be methodical in the process.

For instance, with this series [refers to a trio of figure paintings], being raised in Chile, and South Americans are typically raised Catholic over there, I've always had this image in my head about apparitions and the Virgin Mary that shows up in heaven. I was talking to Eliza about it, and the idea came up in my head and I just felt comfortable experimenting with it. It pushed a full series. So, that's it, you just grab that idea, that little thing that gets you excited, and explore with it

CW: In your own words, what do arts and culture mean to you? Why does it matter?

FI: I do believe that it's everything. I believe that it is the core of who we are. Either you find it profitable or not. Either you care about it or not. Culture is what connects us, and how we communicate through all the categories of art, language, and expression. It matters to a level that I don't know if there are words to express. It’s just one of those pillars of society. So, every organization that promotes that, every organization that says to artists, "We believe in you," I believe that they are a treasure. Artists wake up sometimes with the fear that what they're doing doesn't matter, but then you have someone telling you, this actually matters, people are going to see it, and we care about it, so let us help you with this. That's one of the things I love so much about not only CultureWorks, but what Eliza is doing with Lamb Arts, because she's reaching those little kids. The power of that, I will always be an advocate.