Amanda Veloso

Year of birth: 2006
Where I live: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Education: First-year Visual Studies undergraduate student at the University of Toronto
Describe my art in three words: Nostalgic, Introspective, Narrative
Discipline: Multidisciplinary (painting, drawing, print-making, collage)
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Can you tell us more about how your personal experiences shape your artwork?

My artwork is deeply rooted in personal narrative; each piece serves as a reflection of my experiences, memories, and emotions. I view my artwork as a personal method of understanding both myself and the world around me, allowing me to navigate questions of personal identity through visual expression.
During my senior year of high school, my art thesis focused on the connection between memory, experience, and personal identity. I became fascinated by how the moments we live through, significant or mundane, shape the essence of who we are, and I wanted to explore this idea through my own lived experiences. This approach has transformed my artistic practice into something much more intimate becoming a means of self-exploration, and a way to process and preserve these moments.
In the past, I received feedback from teachers and artistic professionals who felt that my work, while visually strong, lacked a certain intimacy and vulnerability. At the time, I wasn’t entirely comfortable exposing deeply personal aspects of myself in my art. But this thesis became a turning point, as it challenged me to embrace vulnerability and create work that felt honest and introspective.
As of now, my creative practice revolves around using art as a space for intimate reflection, capturing fleeting moments and experiences that might otherwise go unspoken. My work is, in many ways, serves as a visual diary, one that continues to evolve as I do.”

How does the theme of memory play a role in your artistic practice, particularly in the works you’ve created for your current project?

Memory is central to my artistic practice, serving as both a subject and a framework for how I approach storytelling and create in my work. For my current ongoing project, I am creating a painting and drawing diptych that contrasts and explores how memory is stored and remembered differently in objects versus places.
Objects hold memories in a static way-they remain unchanged; preserving a moment in time and serve as physical reminders of personal history. In contrast, places are fluid and ever-changing, shaped by time, people, and shifting atmospheres. A place can hold emotional weight, yet it never remains exactly as we remember it. Through this diptych, I want to explore this tension between permanence and impermanence, between what is fixed and what is constantly shifting.
Through this project, I’ve been reflecting on how personal experiences shape not just who we are, but how we remember. The act of creating these pieces is, in itself, a way of engaging with memory, translating fleeting moments into something tangible. By visually representing these ideas, I hope to evoke a sense of nostalgia and introspection, prompting viewers to consider their own relationship with memory, place, and the objects they hold onto.

Amanda Veloso | Apricity | 2024

Your works seem to reflect both solitude and connection, especially in busy environments. Can you discuss this duality and how it influences your approach to your subject matter?

The duality of solitude and connection is something I often find myself drawn to. In my work, I like to explore how individuals experience personal moments of introspection even in spaces that are full of movement and life. There is something fascinating about how, even in the presence of others, solitude can exist how we navigate the world both as part of a collective and within the intimacy of our own thoughts.
This theme plays a significant role in my current ongoing diptych project, particularly in how memory is stored in objects and places. Public spaces, for example, are constantly shifting people come and go, new experiences layer over old ones—yet within them, we can find deeply personal, almost private moments of stillness.
When approaching my subject matter, I aim to capture this contrast, depicting environments that are full of life yet still intimate, where solitude doesn’t necessarily mean isolation but instead becomes a space for reflection. I try to evoke these feelings of existing in two states at once: present within the world yet momentarily lost in memory or thought.

How do you decide on the materials and techniques you use in your pieces, such as gouache and oil on canvas?

When deciding on materials and techniques, I tend to gravitate toward oil paint on canvas because honestly, it is the medium I am most comfortable with. Over time, I’ve developed a strong connection with oil painting as it allows for a depth and richness that align with the way I want to depict memory and personal experience. The slow drying time also gives me the flexibility to refine details, blend seamlessly, and build layers, all of which are essential to achieving the realism I aim for in my work.
Compared to other materials and mediums I’ve explored in the past, oil paint has consistently been the best at capturing the realistic details I want to convey, especially when working from my own photo references. My artistic approach leans toward realism, not just for the sake of technical precision, but because I want my work to feel immersive, almost as if the viewer is stepping into my own vivid memories and experiences.
At times, I experiment with other materials, such as gouache or graphite, when I want a different texture or effect, but oil remains my primary medium because of its ability to evoke a vivid, almost tangible presence. Ultimately, my choice of materials is guided by how best I can translate personal moments into something visually and emotionally resonant.

Amanda Veloso | Early Morning Drives | 2024

Can you describe your artistic process when creating a piece like “The Train Station” or “Early Morning Drives”?

My artistic process also varies depending on the medium and the mood I want to capture. For a piece like The Train Station, a gouache painting on watercolor paper, I took a more stylized and graphic approach. Gouache allows for flat, bold shapes and a stylized quality that I felt suited the scene; a moment suspended in time, with figures of people and vibrant colors convey a sense of movement and energy. When working in this style, I focus less on realism and more on composition, shape, and atmosphere, simplifying details while still keeping the image representational.
On the other hand, Early Morning Drives, more focusing on realism, required a different approach. I worked from my own photo references to ensure the details were as vivid as possible. The use of oil paint was crucial to me in building depth and refined textures to capture the hazy warm glow of the streetlights and the quick movement of the cars passing by.
Though these two pieces differ stylistically, they both stem from the same intent evoking a personal, familiar feeling, whether through stylized abstraction or immersive realism.

In your statement, you mention a sense of loneliness in a crowd, similar to Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.” How do you view the influence of Hopper and other artists on your work?

While Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks has influenced my exploration of themes of solitude in my work, my influences extend beyond just visual artists. I often draw inspiration from literature, essays, music, scholarly and personal journals-forms of storytelling that explore the complexities of human experience in ways that resonate with my artistic practice. I aim to translate these themes into my own personal language.
Nighthawks is interpreted as an exploration of human existentialism and loneliness in the modern age. Hopper’s figures, though physically close, feel distant from each other, encapsulating the isolation that can exist even within a crowded city. This sense of quiet detachment is something I reflect on in my own work-how urban spaces, despite their energy and movement, can still be deeply isolating. The figures in Nighthawks exist together but remain locked in their own internal worlds, a feeling I often try to evoke in my paintings.
I was also inspired by Olivia Laing’s The Lonely City, which examines loneliness through art, particularly in densely populated urban environments. Laing’s reflections on Hopper’s Nighthawks and Andy Warhol’s Time Capsules made me think about how loneliness manifests in different forms-sometimes in isolation, but also in the presence of others. Her work prompted me to consider how my own art could visually represent this tension between connection and solitude, especially within spaces that feel familiar yet distant.

Amanda Veloso | Imperfect Cinema

What do you hope viewers take away from your work, particularly when experiencing themes of memory, identity, and human connection?

I hope that when viewers experience my work, they find a sense of familiarity within it-whether through the quiet intimacy of a personal memory, the complexities of identity, or the subtle ways human connection unfolds. My artwork stems from my own lived experiences, but I want them to resonate beyond just my perspective. Memory is deeply personal yet universally understood. We all carry moments that shape us, and I want my work to evoke that shared recognition of time, place, and feeling.
With themes of identity, I hope my art prompts viewers to reflect on how their own experiences define who they are. Much of my practice involves using painting as a means of self-exploration, understanding myself through the act of creating. In turn, I hope my work encourages others to think about their own evolving sense of self, how memories and experiences shape their personal narratives. Ultimately, I want my work to serve as a tool for reflection, one where viewers can find traces of their own stories within mine.