Meet Laura Gomez | Art Director and Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laura Gomez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I thought about how can I change the game, what is that i do that make me special. I think the hardest part is that hesitation you have, that feeling of not being confident enough to do something. It’s hard to get pass that and really make a the jump. In my case, I also needed that feeling of just do it, i’ve been slacking a lot, and not finding the “right time” to do it. I believe this self doubt or waiting for things to be figured out is just a barrier that we put ourselves, it so easy to say just do it, but honestly it takes A LOT to do it.

In a more rational way I think its important to have a safety net….be sure that you have some money saved, a little of back up just in case.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m Laura Gomez , I’m an art director and designer, and a collage artist. I started working in design about 13 years ago, but I’ve been doing collages since I was a kid. I would love to cut and paste it all, things I found in the paper, magazines ( to the dismay of some adults that hadn’t read them yet! ). My grandma use to put the old papers in a pile for me to go thru and enjoy and create.

As i became an adult, and went to university, I was pushed to keep on playing with my more “manual creative part”. As I started working in digital design, a creative director once told me that what i had in my portfolio was good, but all the collage work that I do…that was what make me different, and that’s how I got that job. Looking back, I guess at that point, all that running around whit scissors has paid off, and not loosing that manual part that was so important for me, was what made me stand out.

As I grew older, I ended up in a place that really took my will to create or be creative, and I started to deeply doubted myself as a creative, and my abilities. I really regret those years that i left all that uncertainty really distract me from creating, from making things with my hands, art I like, and the most important art that really made me feel something.

Last year, all that time i spent by myself help me realized, that I left things that really make me happy, and i started devoting myself to collages again, doing collabs and finally putting my website out, that really made me proud. I started to work again in my collages after a 3 year period of not doing them, and it just felt right.
I’m very privileged being surrounded by so many talented people that support me , but also , and this took time, to really get to be creative by myself, forget all that self doubt that really plagued my mind for so many years, and really enjoy de process of creating.

I has taken me 35 of my life to really believe in myself as an artist , whatever that means. At least, believing in what I’m doing, giving it my all and just enjoy the process…the way to get there. Because at the end it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t believe in yourself. As cliche as that sound, you don’t need the likes or the comments, you just need to do your best for you.

I also learned the hard way you need to just do it….stop just sitting around and start doing….that really applies for a bunch of stuff in life. I guess all the discipline I have now, comes from all those years of messing things, not being dedicated or just procrastinating.

Another valuable lesson I learned, you need your friends, collabing makes you better, makes you learn and grow… and makes you less of an douche. Play, do fun things with people who are around you, who know you, or don’t, who share your aesthetic or no, and you will learn valuable lessons and keep those things close to you. I really feel working with other people really makes you better.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shutout my dear friend and fashion icon Julia of SaintDesiderata, she has always believed in my and in my creative vision

Website: http://www.cutnpastecollage.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collageslg/

Image Credits
1-3 -7 Collages for St. Desiderata. Photos by Julia Soto De Souza. 5-6 Collages made for Dadan Sunwear. Photos by Valeria Tacsan