Rami Baglio

Rami's spirit animal is a robin, like the bird.

= Division III =

''This article is part of a Climax Div III Issue. By Kate Abbey-Lambertz, Photo Editor ''

Rami Baglio's Division III show in painting, called See What You See: Exploring Archetypes consists of seven large oil paintings, grand images with women and beasts that exist somewhere between the real and the imaginary. “The archetypes are influenced by folklore and mythology. That’s what I read a lot of when I was growing up,” Rami said. “They’re not based on specific stories, but I want people to create their own narratives from the clues.”

“There’s a lot in them that is relatable. I wanted to reach an audience outside of the artbarn; I was catering to non-artists.”

Rami started Hampshire with the idea that she would major in languages, but realized that she liked learning them more than studying them. “I have a lot of interests and painting was the one I tried next, and I was kind of stuck with it by third year.” But it makes a lot of sense: “My sister Deva and I would always do artwork when we were little and make up stories as we go and tell them to each other.” Deva and Rami share an alternate world, even talking to each other in their own secret language.

Sometimes Rami still seems to be living in fantasy world she creates, and to this day she tells herself stories to get into her paintings. “At the beginning of the year, finally I was just like I have to paint the first thing that came into my head, which was Bear Attacking Girl…and I was like how the hell am I going to paint that? That became one of my goals, to paint whatever scene I want to paint, screw how difficult it is.”

Rami talks about sometimes feeling pressure from her committee to do other kinds of work. “It built me a lot of self-assurance in the end, by sometimes being like no, thanks for the advice, but my way is just as valid.”

While she hasn’t always been confident in her work, Rami has always been strong: in her first year she was a founding member of the Warrior Society. “There was a memorable battle that got it started—I was wrestling Keith, really holding my own. When we finally went crashing to the floor, I landed on my ankle and we had to call the EMTs and Health Services said it was probably fractured, but they just gave me an air cast and a cane. So Keith carried me around for the next three days because he felt bad… and he was like, I get to escort a lady around.”

While Rami might sound flippant when she describes her work of “striving to create wacky images,” she had strong ideals about creating art. “Painting and art, to me, are supposed to be free,” she said forcefully. Her epic paintings come from a personal place: she’s a warrior, an adventurer in her own rich imaginative world, and a little wacky herself.