Ep 113 Silvina Lanusse
Sam Horton: [00:00:00] So today I have Silvina Lanusse Silvina is a mixed media artist whose landscape collages explore the emotional connection to place memory and identity. Born in Argentina, based in Canada, and with deep ties to New Zealand, Silvina creates art that reflects her experience of living between worlds.
Her work made from torn paper, paint, and found materials invites us to slow down and reflect on life transitions. Belonging and the healing power of nature. Her work explores the intersection of creativity, mental health, and the art of finding home. So welcome, Silvina.
Silvina Lanusse: Well, thank you very much, Sam, for having me.
It's a great opportunity. I look forward to it.
Sam Horton: So let's just start with your story. Uh, tell us about your journey and when art and creativity really became central to the way that you are moving through life.
Silvina Lanusse: It all start, [00:01:00] well, I, I've been painting all my life, but this particular period of my life in which creativity pays, uh, a, a big impact into my wellbeing
Sam Horton: mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: And my, uh, piecing back myself mm-hmm. Piecing back together, it all began, Right before the pandemic when my daughter decided to move away. She's my only daughter. I live in Canada, she lives in New Zealand. And that was a big shock and not something that I expected. Mm-hmm. Or had prepared to, to overcome or to, like we all, you know who, whoever out there is a parent they know eventually grow up and then move away.
Mm-hmm. That's life. But I never expected this to be so far, across oceans and time zones. Mm-hmm. I, I thought I imagined my life [00:02:00] completely different and. Thanks to Art, I was able to very, very, very, very slowly in these six years now, Sort of be at peace with the fact that there is distance amongst us
And art paid a big, big, uh, impact on that because it tuned me, into, uh, a different time in presence, it just taught me how to, Be confident in spite of the unravel.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: And so I'd say I started doing these, um, what I called paper scapes. Mm-hmm. Landscapes with torn paper. I started doing them right then as an experimentation.
Mm-hmm. And it slowly evolved into, oh wait a minute. This is just like my life. It's all torn apart, but somehow it [00:03:00] comes together.
Sam Horton: Beautiful. That's so good. So there are lots of ways to express yourself artistically, you know, why landscapes in particular, you know, what was it about landscapes that's really, you know, become such a big part of your artistic voice?
Silvina Lanusse: Well, um, I live in a beautiful place and. part of my process is also going for walks. I didn't, connect the two things, the walks. and my artistic practice, but somehow, as I said, over the last few years, they sort of connected and so it's, it's a simple thing really. My walks, were a way for me to connect with.
Where I was at the moment.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: And share it with my daughter in New Zealand. So it'll be a little, you know, little video that I would record and say, Hey, you know, I'm walking, [00:04:00] uh, you know, on the beach today. Look how beautiful the waves, blah, blah, blah. Look at this shell or this, you know, little stone or whatever.
And they were very, very short, you know, less than a minute. And I would send it to her. And that prompted me to look more to the details. Mm-hmm. Instead of just walking, you know? Mm-hmm.
Just,
oh, observe how the rain is falling on that particular leaf record. How, uh, the, the sky and the clouds make you know, this fantastic shape.
Record and all that came back to my studio and I didn't know it. It was very intuitive, but mm-hmm. Slowly I said, landscapes are the thing that tie myself to my present and also my distance. So, and then the other thing is that landscapes in New Zealand. Very similar in many ways to the [00:05:00] landscapes on Vancouver Highland.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm. So,
Silvina Lanusse: color palette, uh, not necessarily the same in Vancouver in New Zealand, the deep blues and turquoise of those waters, uh, very intense. Here is more of a grayish, um, blue if you'll, if you want, but still their landscapes were connected in the shapes and forms. So I said, oh. This landscape, is it New Zealand or is it Vancouver Island?
Well, it could be both. So that's also a way to connect. So it, it all kind of developed that way.
Sam Horton: Mm. And have you spent quite a bit of time in New Zealand as well, um, with your daughter? Yeah. Yeah,
Silvina Lanusse: I did. Yes. We've been there a couple of times now and I'm heading out there again in April, so.
Sam Horton: Okay, excellent.
Yeah, that's beautiful. They are like, um. Yeah, there's something very similar, um, or familiar between those two destinations. Um, [00:06:00] yes. Yeah. And it's like, it's probably like you said, like it's just sort of shapes and really simple subtle things rather than anything specific. So that's really, really powerful.
I love that. So tell us a bit about. How it's felt to create some of your favorite pieces. You know, feel free to share like your process, um, and what sort of materials you love to use the most.
Silvina Lanusse: So it all started with being hooked on jelly plate printing.
Sam Horton: Okay.
Silvina Lanusse: Somehow along the lines, I started learning that and then I had a stack of paper.
Beautiful colors, beautiful patterns and shapes and, and things. And I'm like, they don't quite make it into a finished piece. I don't wanna deal with paper and frame it. What am I gonna do with this? Mm-hmm. I'm not gonna put it in the recycling bin bin. So that, uh, prompt me to, okay, I'm gonna use some on, on my paintings.
And [00:07:00] that's where I start tearing, uh, all the. Papers that I've created and then incorporating other textures and other, uh, types of paper that I would get from old maps that I, you know, like. That I've traveled or, um, little pieces that I've found somewhere, uh, books, pages, ripped off books. I love those.
Every time I go and look into a book, I have to touch the, the type of paper I have to see the font. Is it a large font, small font, this type or this other font? How dark is it? Is the paper? I have one that I absolutely love. It's a very, very old. brown paper, from a, from a book that I sort of inherited from family, and that is just tears apart in my hands.
Mm-hmm. Um, all those things. Um, I, I just, I. Bring together [00:08:00] and, and they sort of speak to me, but I don't have a plan ever. I may have an idea or I wanna do this particular, water or this ocean, but then the mountains behind and the trees I just add as I go and,
Sam Horton: mm. So intuitive.
Silvina Lanusse: Very intuitive. Yes. Yes.
Yeah.
Sam Horton: That's beautiful.
Silvina Lanusse: I don't, yeah.
Sam Horton: What type of art were you making before you landed on the landscapes?
Silvina Lanusse: Before that it was a bit of a transition. I was doing more figurative work. Okay. And specifically, what trans what was the key, uh, transition was that I was in, uh, doing a collaboration with a poet and I was interpreting her poems
Sam Horton: mm-hmm.
On
Silvina Lanusse: canvas. And so it was figurative art. And then incorporating all these, written words in it. Okay. And so that sort of became mixed media collage, [00:09:00] sort of interpretive, art. And from there, I, I moved away from that and went into the landscapes. So that's how I sort of came from.
Sam Horton: Quite different though, in terms of, um, you know, the forms and, and shapes and, things.
So yeah, what a journey. That's really, really, really lovely to hear that. And I guess, you know, for you, like, in that intuitive, you know, uh, deeply intuitive process, you know, how does it feel inside when you are creating like that, you know, where's the magic for you?
Silvina Lanusse: The magic is in disconnecting.
Sam Horton: Okay.
Silvina Lanusse: Although connecting, so it's a disconnect. Connect. So I disconnect with a turmoil that it is outside.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: And connect with myself or connect with my little tiny studio surroundings. So that is. the high of it all, it's just for the pro, the [00:10:00] duration of that session.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: All worries. Go away. Mm.
And I am very focused on letting the paper, because that's also true. The paper, when you tear it, you don't, depending on what type of paper it is, if it's rice paper or tea back paper or book paper or magazine, it all rips. Differently. Mm-hmm. Sometimes you rip and tear from side to side or from top to bottom.
Mm-hmm. And then it leaves a different mark if you go this way, if you go the other way. So it all sort of becomes, uh, uh, like a therapy in a way. Mm-hmm. I let it guide me and I'm like, okay, it, it wanted to tear this way, not the way I want it. Yeah. Okay. Let's deal with that. Right.
Sam Horton: A lot of letting go.
Silvina Lanusse: Yes. A lot of letting go.
Exactly.
Sam Horton: And so do you paint first, like the basic shapes and then lay the collage over? Or do you paint on top of the collage? How does the paint kind of come in? [00:11:00]
Silvina Lanusse: I do a first layer. Of just a plain color. Okay. Um, I've been using a lot of, um, oranges and yellows, but, um, again, transitioning into something different and I'm doing now blacks mm-hmm.
Uh, as the first layer.
Sam Horton: Okay.
Silvina Lanusse: And then I sort of, um, with very little color palette, I just paint a bit of what I wanna, uh, draw, let's say the mountains and the ocean.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: And then from then on, it's free. Everything. Yeah. Okay. That, that now all the paperwork becomes whatever it wants to come,
Sam Horton: That's great. I mean, there's freedom in that, right? You can get really tight and caught up in art as well. You know, it's obviously got lots of healing elements to it, but, okay. Um, people do, you know, myself included, you know, you can get really tight and, uh, stuck in your way, so to speak.
So leaning into such an intuitive [00:12:00] process is actually very freeing and, a beautiful, beautiful discovery. I'm sure, as you know. Oh, yeah. The artist. It's,
Silvina Lanusse: it's been very liberating for sure.
Sam Horton: Yeah, absolutely. So you touched on it a little bit before, but tell us about. Your relationship with nature. I mean, you go for your walks and you're sort of collecting, um, snippets along the way, but how does sort of nature and the physical world around you?
really interplay, you know, with your landscaper in, in particular, you know, is, is there a sense that, you know, you really need to cultivate that connection to nature as part of your creative process? Tell us a little bit about that.
Silvina Lanusse: Um. Nature plays a big role, for everybody, especially here since moving to Canada.
Mm-hmm. Um, I realize that people love, even if it's raining, they love going for walks. They like going hiking, they like to go in the ocean in the summer. there's that piece and. I became [00:13:00] very, um, infatuated or in love with that aspect of being part of, of that culture and being so connected, and again, going for walks and just letting the landscape sort of talk to me in a, mm-hmm.
In a way, although it sounds weird, but Mm. Yeah. I'm just walking around and, and observing and, and. My brain forgets on the worries, and, and I appreciate, the, the little things. So that has always been, um, something since I started this, this type of work. And aside from art, I. Being in the water, for example.
Mm-hmm. So I love swimming. I like going to the beach. I like touching. I'm, I'm a very, tactile person, so I mm-hmm. I need to touch with my barefoot, that I need to touch the sand. I need to feel the water, even if it's [00:14:00] cold.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: I need to, you know, I need to, yeah. Feel everything very close, so.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: I guess that translates into why I paint landscapes.
Sam Horton: And have you always had that real, that deep connection with nature? Do you think that's something you've carried with you your whole life and that you've found a real way to connect the creativity and obviously that natural kind of, uh, tendency or, um,
Silvina Lanusse: yeah.
The connection with, with nature has always been there. Mm-hmm. But it has never made it to. I can, you know, I can relate that or transform that into some art.
Sam Horton: Mm.
Silvina Lanusse: As a kid I always went, uh, to the beach with my parents. Spent months and months, uh, on end, through childhood. And I was the type that always wanted to stay later to watch the sunset or, okay.
Got super, super early. I remember and walk. Uh, by [00:15:00] myself to the beach, just to see the ocean and sit there and listen to the seagulls and all of this, you know, all these sounds, the birds, I mean, that's something else all together. The music nature, singing, you know? Mm-hmm. The leaves, the ocean, the rocks, the way the, the waves.
You know, fall onto the rock here, all those things. So I was always very aware of that. Never did I imagine I was gonna end up doing landscapes.
Sam Horton: No. So similar to that then, you know, how does, uh, you spoke about your daughter obviously, and that's obviously like one of the things that actually that, that sort of pain that you went through in separating from her has obviously, you know, being a real catalyst for this.
You know, expansion, of, of your creativity. So that's really powerful.
as you're going through and you're looking at all of these maps, you know, is, is there something that really [00:16:00] kind of stirs within you, um, something that really, resonates deeply within you? You know, a bit like, you know, obviously like looking at Canada and New Zealand.
Yes. And maybe it's because they're both kind of close to coldness on opposite sides of the world. Maybe that's why they, they have this similarity. I don't know. but, uh, yeah, I'm just intrigued by this kind of concept that, Culturally, it's gonna be quite different between those two countries.
Right, and, and almost like this sort of geographic diversity in terms of weather systems and seasons and all that sort of stuff. It's gonna be, you know, winter in one place when it's summer in the other one. You know, like how does that feel to you in your sort of creating these landscapes?
Silvina Lanusse: That is crazy.
That is absolutely crazy because we're opposites. You know, opposite hemispheres. Yeah. And, um, definitely they like yourself. You are ahead a day. So Yeah. You know, talking into the future how crazy. [00:17:00]
Sam Horton: It's, it's, isn't it? Yeah.
Silvina Lanusse: So, um, all those things, I'm very aware of those. They don't make it into my painting.
My painting forgets about those things.
Sam Horton: Mm. My my
Silvina Lanusse: process is not aware of where I am at that time that I'm making it, uh, or what's happening outside. So none of those differences in cultures, of course, as well. And, and yeah. And things. They're all part of who I am.
Sam Horton: Yeah.
Silvina Lanusse: But they don't make it into my painting other than the fact that yes, I am of, Hispanic, um, background.
Yeah. So therefore all my colors and my palette tend to be very, uh, bold.
Sam Horton: Yeah. Okay.
Silvina Lanusse: You know? Yeah. And then, weather sometimes makes the palette also tune down or, because, you know, we see gray skies most of the time here in [00:18:00] Okay. island, you know, it's gray, it's raining, you know, you don't see the sunshine a lot.
So, so, you know, you, you tend to sort of mimic that in a way.
Sam Horton: Yeah, that's really beautiful. Uh, and actually once you were talking, I'm thinking that actually that's, you know, the, you know, the answer to that question is really that you are creating from a place of connection and oneness. You know, you, like, you're, you are kind of ignoring those differences, and that's really powerful because it, it's, it's how, you know, how you are kind of creating the common thread almost.
Silvina Lanusse: that's right. Yes. You call it.
Sam Horton: Um, but you know, it's really hard to explain to people, isn't it? You know? but yeah, so I mean, there's, there's like, I mean that's why I had those two questions 'cause there's nature in the physical world, you know, and understanding that, and really leaning into that. But then there's also this concept because obviously your work is built on the, on the basis that your daughter moved away from you.
Mm-hmm. There's this [00:19:00] concept of distance and geography and Yeah. So I was really interested to hear about how, you know, how you feel about that. Yeah.
Silvina Lanusse: Mm-hmm. Yeah, you put it in words perfectly, so thank that.
Sam Horton: so you also talk about, you know, art guiding you home and landscapes, reflecting back who we are becoming.
So my question to you on this is, did you feel lost before finding this creative work? you know, as a, as an artist, as a person.
Silvina Lanusse: Absolutely I did.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: I was one of those artists that, you know, I, I kept creating and I kept doing things, and half the time or more I would be. What does this mean? Like, where's this going?
Sam Horton: Yeah.
Silvina Lanusse: What would this mean to someone else? Mm-hmm. Like, is it worth it? Worth it? And, um, and I enjoyed the process. It doesn't mean that I hadn't done that before, but it is not until I have to, and this is all [00:20:00] again, unconscious. I didn't know that I was doing this. Process, but it's not until I start beginning to heal
Sam Horton: mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: That I realize, oh, this is where I'm going and this is what it means to me, and right now this is what I need to be doing and, and sharing. So it, it found a purpose.
Sam Horton: Hmm mm
Silvina Lanusse: by
Sam Horton: so powerful.
Silvina Lanusse: Yeah. Yeah.
Sam Horton: And so I think, do you think it comes from a place of like. You know, um, because obviously the, the connection with your daughter and her physical presence in your life, but it sounds like it was a very important thing for you.
So do you think you almost need to have, you know, life ripped out from underneath you, or to hit rock bottom or to go through a really traumatic, difficult time in order to have these kind of breakthroughs in your creative practice?
Silvina Lanusse: I wonder because I've had many things happen to me. Mm-hmm. Like most people [00:21:00] go through, uh, different, difficult, and moments and, and, and challenges throughout the lifetime.
Yeah. This has been the biggest for me. Yeah.
Sam Horton: Yeah.
Silvina Lanusse: And that has sort of, um, I, I need, I was in a very deep hole when she left. Mm-hmm. I, I didn't know how to, sort of redefine myself mm-hmm. And think, well, really, who am I? Mm-hmm. Now,
Detached audio: I'm
Silvina Lanusse: not the person I thought I would be at this age, and, you know, no, I, I did not.
I, no, I couldn't. Couldn't imagine that, and so it was very difficult for me to find the why, what I'm, what's my purpose now?
Sam Horton: Yeah.
Silvina Lanusse: She doesn't need me. That's what I thought. She doesn't need me. Yeah. She's far away. She's creating her own life. What's, what's it for me?
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: And it, it was [00:22:00] very, very hard for, for, for, for good, good time.
I mean, still at times it's hard.
Sam Horton: Yeah.
Silvina Lanusse: but finding that my art gave me that, you know, allowed me that moment to process without me knowing.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: Um, was, was one of the best things that could have happened.
Sam Horton: Yeah, very healing as you said before. so why do you think then that art and creativity do hold this healing kind of empowering energy for us?
Silvina Lanusse: Because I think that the moment that we start concentrating on, even if you're doing hyperrealistic work, for example
Sam Horton: mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: And you're looking at exactly how the shadow falls onto that line and what. Color contrast is there between two spaces. at that moment you are only thinking about that.
Mm-hmm. [00:23:00] And I've, I've went through that. We all as artists go through that. Mm-hmm. You are absolutely concentrated on that particular moment in which you find the paint that you're gonna use. Find the brush, apply it on the canvas, and concentrate that for that. Moment, everything else goes away. Mm. And I don't think whenever we are painting, or even if you're just sketching or your 15 minute little, you know, doodling
Sam Horton: Yeah.
Silvina Lanusse: Where's, where's your mind at that point? It's not in your worries. It's in some, somewhere some other alternative space. Mm-hmm. So I think that's, that's very important and that's why. Looking at the ways we can be more creative in our lives is so important, I think.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: It brings us. You know, it's a grounding moment as well.
Yeah, yeah,
Sam Horton: yeah, yeah. it's multi-layered, I think, [00:24:00] but, you know, do you think that it, I mean you sort of touched on it earlier, I think, but do you think your creative practice has become a way for you to connect to something bigger than yourself? you know, has it, has it become part of your spiritual practice?
Silvina Lanusse: Yes, yes, because, and I'm not looking for it, but it just happens and it is connected to if I'm, you know, tearing paper away and, you know, going through it, and I'm also listening to music, all of a sudden, the word that it's in the lyrics is, oh. That's, I don't know, somehow it connects, but it's not something I'm looking for.
So it becomes a message, I don't know, hidden somewhere, you know? So
Sam Horton: a random insight. Yeah.
Silvina Lanusse: not too long ago ago, I was, uh, finishing up a painting and I saw on the horizon line between some mountains that [00:25:00] were sort of wrapped to each other. I'm like, oh, these two, they need an extra.
Piece there, but I don't want it to be very colorful, but it needs, what am I gonna do? And so I'm looking for my papers and the thing that shows up is a photocopy of my dad's handwritten letter. Mm-hmm. And I'm like, exactly, kid, you know exactly this size of paper I needed. Wow. How did that happen? So that piece
Sam Horton: mm-hmm.
Silvina Lanusse: You know, I applied that handwritten letter and you know, I just touched it and, you know, I connected with it. I wasn't looking for it, it just happened.
Sam Horton: Mm-hmm. So powerful. So, so
Silvina Lanusse: that's, yeah.
Sam Horton: So nice when that happens, isn't it? These little tiny little minute details that no one really, no one else is really particularly bothered about, but it feels like a real big deal for you.
Silvina Lanusse: Yeah, and I mean, and I don't, don't look, as I said, I'm not looking for them, but [00:26:00] you know, it's like crazy, crazy. Yeah.
Sam Horton: Yeah. So for all the women who are curious about finding their way home through art, what powerful message or question would you like to leave them with today?
Silvina Lanusse: I would like to say to them, allow yourself to be imperfect and let your practice mirror your life.
And if your life is imperfect, your practice will show those imperfections, but in that, that's perfect in itself.
Yeah. Connect to the moment and allow for imperfection and, and that's just beautiful. Imperfections are beautiful. Mm,
Sam Horton: so beautiful. So how can people get to know you better Silvina, and get a real feel for the work you're doing?
Silvina Lanusse: Well, they [00:27:00] can go to my website, which is silvinalanusseart.ca, and they can also find me on YouTube for my walking for inspiration videos.
Sam Horton: Okay,
Silvina Lanusse: and Instagram Silvina Lanusse Art
Sam Horton: Awesome. Thank you so much for coming and chatting with me today. Love your beautiful landscapes. Enjoyed our conversation so much.
Silvina Lanusse: Thank you. I, it was, it was fun and very peaceful and I really look forward ever since I started listening to your podcasts. I'm honored.
Sam Horton: Thank you. Thank you very much.
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