Conversation with Marina Ribera Inigo
Founder & Director, Inigoart
Tell us about a woman, well-known or not, whom you admire and why.
I have always been in awe at Lee Miller's uncompromising free spirit. Model for Vogue in New York, muse to Man Ray, photographer as part of the surrealist group in Paris, photojournalist war correspondent and retiree gourmet chef in England. Not defined by sexual abuse at childhood, Miller married twice and travelled the world. A woman who reinvented herself and lived many lives.
Do you collect art?
I collect art at an emerging level and love mixing it with antiques, textiles, craft and design. I live with a painting by Phoebe Unwin, a drawing by Charles Avery, photographs by Llorens Ugas Dubreuil and Baud Postma, prints by Broomberg and Chanarin, mid-century chairs reupholstered with weaved paper cord, limited edition dinner plates by Linder Sterling, a carrara marble table by Bethan Gray and an antique rug by Emilio Pucci that is my daily reminder of the light and colours of the Mediterranean.
Who is the last artist who caught your eye?
Not the last who caught my eye but definitely one that I know will keep surprising me and I can’t take my eyes off, Egle Jauncems. Drawing is at the heart of her practice and she works exclusively with oil paint. She creates hybrid painting-sculptures depicting male portraiture and their psychologies.
If you were to give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
People giving advice makes me suspicious. It's pretentious. We are all on a journey and I’m happy with mine. So I’d say “Chill. You’ll be fine”. I would rather my younger self gave me advice. With time, self-expectations and the conditions that make them possible or not play with our minds. My younger self was fearless. I am positive a young me would have said “Get on with it. We are not here to waste time”.
Do you feel lucky to do what you do?
Extremely. Every day is different and I get to shape it in any way that I believe it to be the most productive. I consult for private and corporate clients; I visit artists’ studios regularly; I take time to travel and read which keeps my brain ticking and thinking of what’s next. Right now, I’m working on a project that aims to bring together art financing and philanthropy. How could I not feel lucky?