Art, // July 15, 2024
Bé Machado — ARTIST
Bé Machado
Interview with artist Isabel Machado —
1. Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Isabel Machado, with the pseudonym of Bé Machado, born on June 19, 1960, in Lisbon and I reside in Ericeira. I have always breathed art, but the paths of life took me in another direction (graduation in law and 36 years of service to the Public Administration), without ever stopping drawing, painting and pursuing my dream. So, today, after freeing myself from the constraints of everything that kept me from what I loved, I dedicate myself exclusively to art. I am self-taught, a lover of drawing and painting, a lover of life and a lover of the dream of bringing my works to the light of day, a dream that I have never abandoned and will not stop pursuing.
2. Why art?
Because for me, art is life, it’s the air I breathe since I understand myself as “people”, having always been part of my life, whether in drawings, painting, and sculpture. It is in art that I find myself, that I know who I am, that I complete myself, that I am happy, and that I fulfill my purpose in life.
3. What is your earliest memory of wanting to be an artist?
Because as I mentioned earlier, she is me. Without art I do not exist, it is with art that everything happens and that I make everything happen. Art is the air I breathe it’s the elixir that makes my world move and the world around me.
4. What are your favorite subject(s) and media(s)?
The subjects portrayed and to which I give greater relevance are all those related to human beings, and to the world. The essence of each person, humanity in general, the intuition and energy that connects us, with each other, with nature and with all the beings that inhabit our world. The dream of being able, with my art, to give a touch of magic that can help improve our world, and that tomorrow life will be able to smile for everyone.
The way I work always has to do with my intuition, with the feeling of the moment, and what I intend to offer to the world and then, as if by magic, the image appears, the screen goes blank and the form and messages appear. The way I find to approach my subjects is by debating them, whether with artist friends, galleries, magazines, exhibitions and anything that allows me to sample my work.
5. How do you work and approach your subject?
My works arise from an intuition, sensitivity, and message that, once received, I transmit to the canvas.
6. What are your favorite art work(s), artist(s)?
One of the artists that makes me vibrate, inspires me, encourages me and I admire not only in art but also in life is the iconic Frida Kahl. In addition to her, other painters, mainly from classicism, impressionism and surrealism, never forgetting Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, with his cubism and range of colors, whose life I fell in love with, and Vicente Van Gogh with his works using a unique and of exclusive impressionism, along with a painful and dramatic life.
7. What are the best responses you have had to your work?
The best reactions are always those of the observer when he praises my works after feeling them, analyzing them, and enjoying their content. And then, of course, the act of purchase that shapes and expresses the conclusion of satisfaction with the work I carried out.
8. What do you like about your work?
In my work I like everything. The contact with the canvas, the acquaintance with the color palette, the touch of the brush, and the appearance of something that was only in the mind and that through a touch of magic came to appear on the canvas, freeing it from the white and giving it finally life and whispering: go now, yes you are to the world, the blank screen like a small caterpillar in its cocoon has become the most beautiful butterfly in a range of colors, even if they are only in black and white.
In my work I like everything. The contact with the canvas, the acquaintance with the color palette, the touch of the brush, and the appearance of something that was only in the mind and that through a touch of magic came to appear on the canvas, freeing it from the white and giving it finally life and whispering: go now, yes you are to the world, the blank screen like a small caterpillar in its cocoon has become the most beautiful butterfly in a range of colors, even if they are only in black and white.
8. What do you like about your work?
In my work I like everything. The contact with the canvas, the acquaintance with the color palette, the touch of the brush, and the appearance of something that was only in the mind and that through a touch of magic came to appear on the canvas, freeing it from the white and giving it finally life and whispering: go now, yes you are to the world, the blank screen like a small caterpillar in its cocoon has become the most beautiful butterfly in a range of colors, even if they are only in black and white.
10. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
The future is already tomorrow. I don’t like futurism. I like to let it happen and wait for life to surprise me.
But answering the question briefly, I dream of being prosperous in art, with recognition for my work, but mainly with recognition of the person I am as a human being and an artist who never gave up on her dreams and against everything continued to pursue what love.
Bé Machado
Olívia da Costa
Olívia da Costa is our arts correspondent for Arts Illustrated in Portugal.
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