Carla Uriarte’s doodles are dinky, wonky, pinky-plonky. She incorporates scrawls, bubble writing and statements, the catching’s of a conversation, passing thoughts and internal monologues into her drawings of birds, creatures, women and abstract landscapes. Her approach has a way of presenting a female sensibility amongst her make-believe Australiana landscape lilt and intriguing creatures and friendly monsters: some of her work are simply abstract forms that might hold mouths, tongues, teeth, housed in globules of colour and shade. 

They are definitely doodles, in the sense that they seem to be scratched from the surrealism of her mind, yet are brought forth into reality through the statements that neither start nor stop. It almost feels like the images and the words reflect one another: they neither have sharp edges or some no edges at all. Merely soft openings without the need for a cathartic finish.

They are surrealistic, they are eye-catching, they are calming: they are doodles destined to define nothing in particular but open a frame into a world Carla has created for herself and her viewers, invited to enter and interpret as they see fit. 

What do you do for fun, what’s your favourite colour, how did you get into drawing and illustration?

Swim, wine, dance, socialise, paint. Mustard. Natural Instinct. 

What were you good at in school, what were you not so good at?

Sport. Focusing. 

What defines a doodle?

Quick movements without too much effort or thought. 

When you draw, what comes first: the statement or the illustration?

Still unsure. Can’t say. Either or depending on the moment. 

Who is the best doodler in history?

David Shrigley 

In the UK, the government is increasingly moving focus away from the arts, leaving a potential massive gap in young people’s education of art. How important is art to you?

Very IMPORTANT – for obvious reasons. I think that without the education of art it is easy for a young person to think that they cannot make a career out of ART which can cause them to feel forced into working in a field that does not interest them — leading to a life with no passion or pizazz, resentment etc. etc. 

Does Australia enter your work?

The landscape, feelings, people and experiences of wherever I happen to be always enters my work.

Does your mind drift as you draw or does drawing help your mind drift?

I think my mind drifts 24/7. I find that the mediation of drawing brings me inside of my head allowing me to explore the different layers of all that goes on within.

Tags: artist, Australia, Feminism