Peggy Hinaekian's poetry in color

Published: Tuesday February 23, 2010

Peggy Hinaekian.

Peggy Hinaekian is a graduate of the Italian Academy of Art "Leonardo da Vinci" and has also studied History of Art at McGill University in Montreal. Her work consists of oil and acrylic on canvas and etchings. She began a formal career as a fashion designer for Jackie Kennedy's wedding gown designer in New York.

Her award-winning art has been exhibited internationally and can be found in numerous corporate and private collections as well as in Museums all over the world. Her etchings are distributed by Christie's Contemporary Art of London and Editions Francony of France. She works in Switzerland and in the United States.

Editor's Note: The interview by Nancy Bockoven first appeared in Arts+Culture, La Jolla, an e-magazine found at http://www.artculturelajolla.com, and is re-printed here with permission.

How would you describe your work?

I would describe my work as lyrical. It is predominantly abstract and I have been told that it exudes an atmosphere of calm and joy. I try to guide the viewer towards a focal point, inviting him or her to wander within the paintings and be part of the emotions they provoke. I think some of my work has a nebula like quality suggesting infinite distances in atmospheric fields of color, whether small and whimsical or large and bathed in vast expanses of one color.

When did you first consider becoming an artist?

I have always considered myself an artist as of the age of 3. My father encouraged me in my childish drawings from as far as I can remember. However, as I did not make a living with my art, I held other jobs, secretarial, administrative, fashion designing, etc.

Do you have a formal art education or are you self-taught?

I did have a formal education in an Italian academy in Cairo, Egypt, where I was born, but it was not satisfactory to me. It was too academic. After that, when living in Montreal, I took some courses in history of art at McGill University. I have not been taught technique or anything else. I just learned as I went along. I am always looking for new techniques. I just took a course at the Atheneum in La Jolla in monoprints and I produced 60 monoprints in four days, most of which I exhibited in Germany and in Switzerland this fall.

You've exhibited consistently since the early 1970s - what was it like in the beginning, was it hard to get your work shown, what was your process for getting into galleries?

In the beginning it was very hard to get my work shown. I had another style, a cubist/surrealistic couples theme and I had a lot of rejections. I had my first exhibition in Montreal, then went to New York and worked as a fashion designer for Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress creator, all the time painting on the side. Then I went to Switzerland where I really started my career as an artist while working part time in one of the United Nations agencies. I also took up some courses in etching. Being able to work with print editors helped my career in getting known all over the world. When I visit a city I go to the galleries and look to see which one would be suitable to show my work. Then I try to talk to the manager and show that person my catalog. In Europe it is done differently than in the U.S. In the U.S, I first call to find out if they are taking on new artists, then find out about their submissions procedure. I then submit my work and hope for the best. An artist has to persevere and never give up hope. It has to be a continuous process. Women often give up their careers while raising children. Luckily I was an artist and could paint with the children running around my studio.

Along that same note, do you think artists today have to put an equal effort into the business/ marketing side of their artistic profession? How do you handle this aspect of your work?

I think that artists today have to put more time into the business/marketing side of their profession. Painting is easy - it requires two to three hours a day - but marketing is very time consuming. Sometimes I spend days on the computer or on the telephone trying to get gallery representation or arranging for exhibitions. It is very frustrating.

I know that you've traveled extensively, how have different places inspired you? Do you paint while you're traveling or do you use the trips as a break and then return to painting when you're back home?

Egypt has inspired me with its exotic atmosphere and its climate. Montreal did not inspire me at all. In fact in Montreal, I painted in warm colors in a room overlooking mounds of snow. In Italy I was inspired by the vegetation and the sea and in New Mexico by the vibrant colors of the desert landscape. I never paint while travelling. I don't even take a sketchbook with me. I sometimes make notes of color themes and shapes as I see them. I like painting in my own studio space, although once I painted in the main hall of a major Swiss bank. They had set up a podium for me and I went there everyday for a month.

In your artist's statement you mention you are foremost a colorist and often work with a color key - can you tell us more about this? What other elements or materials find their way into your work?

When I decide to do a painting, I decide on the color first. I have an idea of where that color should go and what texture it should have. Then I dissect this color field with another color. I use the word dissect because often I have a line going through my painting or I have a small patch of another color floating in the atmosphere. This other color is very important. The two colors should complement each other. I often use sand or collages. The color, shape and placement of the collage are also very important. I spend quite a bit of time on deciding that.

What is your studio or work space like?

I had three studios: The major one was in Switzerland and it was a real studio with a gallery front (my own gallery). However, I closed that one up as I cannot possibly have more than two workplaces. I spend more time in the U.S. I don't call them studios now. My work space in Fort Lauderdale is a separated part of the very large living room and it is a corner space with very good light. My work place in La Jolla is on the patio in the open air and part of it extends into my bedroom. I am not a neat artist. I have pieces of interesting paper lying around in bins and different objects I gather from the beach. I also clip, clip clip from magazines. My husband says I am a dumpster diver. I gather things and clippings because they give me ideas.