Florencia Vicuña Hogge paints from a quiet, wooded place, where a leaf on the ground, a bird, a mushroom, or a root is enough to wake the imagination. Solitude and closeness to nature feed a practice that is serious and playful at once, full of humour and affection for the beings that emerge on canvas and paper. Those beings are born from a dark place, from the fear of losing their habitats, and from a wild nature that teaches survival skills both ruthless and beautiful. After a crisis that followed art studies, when the pressure to justify the work in words cut the link with purpose, painting returned as a companion that holds, guides, and protects.
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Do you consider a personal connection to your subject matter essential? How has this connection influenced your work?
I think it is somehow impossible not to feel a connection to your subject matter. That connection can stem from many sources, personal experiences, the lived experiences of others that impacted you, or even something that develops along the way. I feel it is important to be connected to what you do in order to offer your most genuine perspective; ultimately, I believe that is what drives an artist. In my case, feeling connected to nature makes me feel connected to painting. Living in a quiet, wooded area in solitude, being able to observe a leaf on the ground, a bird, a mushroom, or a root, awakens my imagination, my curiosity, and even my sense of humor and affection for my work; in this way, I feel increasingly connected to what I do.
Can art be truly therapeutic? Have you personally experienced its healing power or witnessed its impact on others?
For me, art has always felt like a companion, someone who takes me by the hand and guides, accompanies, and protects me; I have always felt deeply held by art. I have often felt that, come what may, as long as I have painting, I will be okay. The strength painting gives me, manifests in a thousand ways, but above all, it leads me to delve deeper into my identity. The myriad insecurities that might assail me in daily life vanish when I start to paint; the "impostor" disappears, and my fears are transformed and lose their power. This happens because I know that what I am creating is truly mine, that what is emerging on the canvas or paper is "me", and that essence is resilient against whatever life throws my way. Through painting, I get to know myself a little better and discover things about myself and my inner world; that is incredibly powerful. I believe art holds that power, the power to strengthen the very core of your being.
If you could live anywhere in the world to further inspire your creativity, where would you choose?
Even though I live in the place I love most in the world, and truly wouldn't live away from here for more than a year, I feel deeply inspired by this place; my roots are here, and so is my heart. Yet this place is changing, and much of its nature is being destroyed. This makes me fantasize about a distant, damp, and nearly pristine forest where I could live in solitude and paint, walk through the woods and paint, eat and paint, observe and paint, paint and paint. And although such a place exists in thousands of locations, it is a place under threat, one that feels increasingly scarce and hard to find; still, someday I will have a remote forest studio where I can retreat from the bustle and noise for periods of time to paint.
Can you identify a specific moment in your life when you realized that art was not just a passion, but your purpose?
I think that moment came very early for me, so early that I can’t actually recall it. I always felt that art was my path, especially during my childhood and adolescence. I studied art, but when I finished my studies, a real crisis hit: I felt lost and disconnected from that sense of purpose. Even though I had been immensely happy studying art, something snapped. I believe it was the pressure to please others, or the need to justify the emotional and aesthetic aspects of my work using a specific number of words. Today, I am once again that little girl who felt that art gave her life purpose.
In a world saturated with images, what responsibility do artists have to stand out and express something authentic?
I believe artists always have a responsibility to create something authentic. By this, I don’t mean something that has never been seen before, but rather something as genuine and sincere as possible. Nowadays, we have the feeling that everything has already been created, but the value of an artistic work lies not in its novelty, but in its emotional connection to a human vision. That is why I wouldn't aim to "stand out", doing so implies trying to please others and comparing oneself to others, which is precisely the dark side of social media.
If you could turn into one of your creations for a day, which one would you be and why?
That is a beautiful question! I love it. A crucial part of my work is embodying each of the beings that emerge, connecting with them, and a relationship of deep admiration always develops. These are beings born from a dark place, from the fear of losing their habitats, and from a wild nature that drives them to develop survival skills that are both ruthless and beautiful; they are intelligent and wary creatures. I would want to be one of my birds: they fly, they are as wise as owls, they know the forest and the sea, and they move through the air with natural ease.
Do you think artists have a responsibility to address climate change or environmental concerns in their work? Why or why not?
I do not believe that addressing climate change is a responsibility that falls on every artist. Although it is an issue that directly affects all of humanity, and indeed all forms of life, there are many themes and problems that need to be brought to light, and many causes worth championing. I believe a work carries far more power when it stems from deep personal passion rather than a mere sense of obligation. That said, I do believe that being conscious of climate change is essential and mandatory; by this, I mean making an effort to minimize one's environmental impact while creating art.
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Florencia Vicuña Hogge understands authenticity as sincerity rather than novelty. The value of an artwork lies in its emotional connection to a human vision, and that is why standing out is not the aim: it invites comparison and the wish to please, which is the dark side of social media. Painting works as a way of knowing the self. Insecurities fade at the easel, fear loses its power, and what appears on the canvas is recognised as truly the artist’s own. The home landscape is changing and its nature is being destroyed, which fuels a dream of a remote, damp, nearly pristine forest studio where walking, eating, observing, and painting become one rhythm. The wish to become one of the birds, wise as owls and at ease in the air, says much about where the work wants to go.