Born in Barcelona with Spanish and French roots, Paola has lived in both Barcelona and Paris. Painting has been at the heart of her life since very early stages, exploring different pictorial techniques during her studies in Barcelona and Florence. Those where combined with more analytical and technological skills acquired during her bachelor in Business Administration.
Paola was highly influenced by her grandmother Cachi Soler, a known Spanish painter and sculptor, who introduced her to the captivating and emotional world of artistic expression, experimenting without rules and letting emotions flow through the canvas.
The art that came out of this fusion is a particular balance between classical influences and contemporary technological disruption.
The Story
Specialising in figurative oil painting, her work features a figurative component inspired by classical traditions, serving as an ode to our cultural heritage. These characters are viewed through a modern and contemporary lens, where geometric shapes of myriad colours dance around the figures. This universal language of geometrical color and movement aims to convey a spectrum of emotions in each portrait.
This fusion of the ancient and the modern stems from her ongoing academic training at the Barcelona Academy of Art and the Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona, jointly with a previous professional career in the technological industry. This background influences her oil paintings, where she incorporates shapes and colours reminiscent of digital aesthetics—elements that don’t exist in nature but are inspired by the digital realm, adding a futuristic touch to her work.
Her most recent exhibitions include showcasing her work at the European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), at the “Gran Teatre del Liceu” in Barcelona, and on several occasions at the Royal Artistic Circle in Barcelona.
Paola Charnet’s future work continues to explore the fusion of contemporary techniques with classical oil painting. Her ‘Geometry of Emotions’ series exemplifies this approach, highlighting the convergence of tradition and modernity in emotional expression. Featuring characters with classical styling and geometric elements, the series reflects today’s shift from verbal to interconnected, cerebral communication. By blending past and present, Paola aims to honor our cultural heritage while envisioning a future enriched by global dialogue and evolving human connections.
The Process
There are no two identical artwork creation process. Every new piece aims to enter and discover each character’s story, feelings, ambitions, desires, background and translate it into the visual language of tridimensional shapes.Time in art is nourished by ideas of the future, stories of our past and the immediate feelings of the present. We need to go back, forth, turn, and return. Sometimes this takes days, weeks and even months.
Multiple techniques are involved into this discovery and creative path, from pencil sketches combined with pastels, charcoal and watercolors to digital simulations with 2D and 3d rendering programs such as Photoshop, Procreate ZBrush…
By combining digital design techniques with traditional oil painting execution the result is a mixed reality of classical disrupted technology.