This Artist Serves Us Contemporary Surrealism with a Nostalgic twist Bruno Baraldi’s work could be described as contemporary surrealist, nostalgic,, and a fascinating merging of reality and fantasy. Baraldi’s work caught our eye and held our attention for a myriad of reasons. He has a unique ability to pull in elements from outer-space, 1950s domestic scenes, and cityscapes and combine them with the human body, resulting in innovative masterpieces. When asked about his process, he tells us that he simply, “lets imagination be the queen.” Adopting a collaging technique, this guiding principle often results in images that stray from the beaten path, and possess a unique, futuristic look. We took the time to chat with Bruno to get to know more about his work, and were astonished to find out that he is relatively new to contemporary surrealism. Have a look at his work, and let yourself drift into the dream-world he creates with each brush stroke and combination of colour. THE PLUS: First off, we’d love to get to know you! Tell us a bit about yourself. Bruno Baraldi: Hi all! I’m Bruno, I live in Brazil, I love gin and tonic, and I’m a dog person. TP: How did you get into art? Have you always considered yourself a contemporary surrealist? BB: I can’t remember exactly how art entered my life. It just caught me. Since I was a little kid I was always curious about colours, shapes, dimensions and how people could create anything from scratch with paint, pencils, pens and other materials. I remember people painting the streets and walls during the World Cup to root for Brazil, and I was fascinated by the creativity. Honestly, my interest in contemporary surrealism is a recent thing. I did some research on art styles for months and just thought the term suited me. But I don’t like to fit myself into one art style only. I like creating stuff, no matter what it fulfills. TP: What does contemporary surrealism mean to you? BB: For me, surrealism is playing with that illogical way of seeing things-different perceptions and interpretations. I love when I create something thinking “X” and someone tells me they got “Y” or “Z” and I’ve never really had the interpretation they had. It amazes me how a creation can impact people in many different ways. And about the contemporary word, it’s just to look fancy I guess! TP: When you are creating a new piece, what does the process look like? Do you typically have a concrete idea in-mind, or do you create as you go? BB: It depends. Sometimes I have a concept, sometimes it changes in the middle of the process, sometimes it turns out 100% different than the original idea was. I usually have the idea when I’m image hunting. I see a picture and think “this could be this, this could be that” and start from there. Most of the time it changes. The creative process is the best part of it. Many insights! Sometimes it takes days to create something, and sometimes, just 15 minutes. When it clicks and makes sense to me, I stop. “That’s it!”. TP: Most of your work seem to involve space, or include an element of the unknown. What do these elements represent? BB: It’s all about the fantasy. The dream. I feel like people got bored of Earth, in certain aspects. So that’s a way of escaping reality a little bit and let the imagination be the queen. I also think it’s curious and fascinating how we are just a floating ball among other floating balls in an infinite darkness. There’s so much yet to be seen and I try to express that through my art as well. TP: You seem to favour certain colour palettes in your work. What’s the significance here? BB: I love colour. Playing with colour is one of the most exciting parts in the process! I just want it to be really colourful and for all the colours to speak between them. I don’t think I favour any coloursat all! Maybe bright colours, like red and yellow, catch my attention the most when I’m image hunting,then the rest of the images go with the flow. I love playing with black and white sometimes though! I guess we all have these colourless days… TP: Most of your work seems to have different elements of humans, but mostly women, dispersed throughout. What role do women or the human body play in your inspiration/work? BB: Women have always inspired me. I always wanted to be the woman superhero when I was a kid or when I was playing videogames with my cousins. I used to say that women do everything better than men. And I still think that, and forever will, probably. I don’t know. I just feel like women emanate such a powerful aura that whenever I’m around them I feel powerful. Also, I always read about the sacred feminine and try to emerge that in myself everytime I think it’s possible. The future is female, we all know that! TP: Overall, your work gives us vintage, nostalgic vibes. Where do you pull this inspiration from? BB: I just like the aesthetic of it! When I was growing up, vintage advertising was extinct already so I never really had the chance to see it in magazines or anything like that. It’s a way to live what I couldn’t and still be pleasant to the eyes. It’s timeless! TP: Do you have any plans for upcoming pieces that you’d like to share with us? BB: I create a piece a day while always trying to outdo myself. One of the biggest projects to come is to make a giant collage somewhere in the streets. I wanna expand in this aspect. To spread my art onto streets, and maybe, who knows, throughout the world. I’d print the images in some kind of poster paper, cut it and assemble the giant pieces directly onto a wall, building, car, bus, airplane, or anything I think is possible!
