Introducing: Clina Polloni
By Darian Kiener, Editorial Assistant
This week I met with Clina Polloni, a skilled painter and art teacher whose work can be found at the Cotton Company. When I first saw her paintings I was fascinated by the vibrancy present in the colors she chose and the impressionist style she practiced. She is inspired by both her Latin culture and those who inspired her as a painter, such as her students and her great-grandfather.
Clina Polloni has been a painter for most of her life, finding love for the medium as a child when looking upon the paintings of her great-grandfather, whom she never met. As a little girl, she would go to his old studio, admire his paintings, and try to copy them. This practice taught her a lot about painting; she says, “He has been my master.” This inspiration, as well as instruction from art teachers, drove her skill forward. She went on to study art at the University of Chile.
Polloni applied her artistic talent to build a career in design. She says, “All my family have always been artists. They have other professions to make money, but art is a work of love and something they and I must do.” Throughout her career she found a way to combine her love for art with work. Polloni worked at numerous advertising agencies until she and her brother opened a design company called Polloni Design in Raleigh. “The focus was to create corporate identity,” she explained. “We designed lots of logos and other promotional material, and in 1999 I learned how to develop websites, so I could provide that service to companies as well.” All the while, she continued to pursue art and painting simply because she loved it.
When asked about her time as an art teacher she said: “Every day I have a class with them, I find myself inspired by them. It fills you with life.” I asked her if artists have a similar experience to writer's block and she said “not that much,” explaining that her students struggle at times, but a conversation usually leads to inspiration.“A community is essential.” Polloni said. “We need each other.”
I found that statement profound, and I was moved to ask her how she felt about the quote “Survival is insufficient.” Originally from Star Trek, it can also be found in the book Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. She said “You can be feeling sick, you can be feeling sad, whatever… but the minute you go to that canvas and you are painting… it's an inspiration.”
Feeling elevated, I asked her how it felt to know that her art and teaching inspire others. She responded: “I had one student that started when she was twelve years old. She entered some of her paintings at the state fair and received awards. Now she has graduated from NC State, and is on her way to medical school, and she is still painting, isn’t that amazing?”
According to Polloni, creating art is “a process that takes time. Your first thought can be one thing, but as you develop it, it can end up as something else…what you need is a good base, a good inspiration. From there you can go anywhere.”
Her life as an artist, and her passion for art and teaching others inspired me immensely, and I am grateful for the conversation we had. I look forward to speaking with her again, and I hope you take the time to view her work at the Cotton Company and on her website.
https://www.thecottoncompany.net/
Darian Kiener is an author and poet from Wake Forest, NC who joined The Wake Forest Review team in January 2024 as an Editorial Assistant. He graduated in December of 2023 with a B.A in English from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. His writing has been featured in The Coraddi Fine Arts Magazine, Atlantis Creative Magazine, and The Wake Forest Review, along with a few others. In his free time, he enjoys watching and playing hockey, reading, cooking and learning. Some of his interests include astronomy, history, and philosophy. He has high hopes to get accepted into graduate school to study post-modern literature and poetry.