Whether it’s art or other facets of culture, our current zeitgeist encourages the radical self-interpretation of messages. Marina Santoro welcomes this with the paradox of subliminal immediacy in her acrylic and ink canvas paintings. She originally studied classical drawing but was stirred by the unbound nature of abstract expressionism. She talks about her inspiration as being the perpetual dance between the joy of freedom and the burden of chaos--the human thirst for full control of our existence, often slipping out of our grasp. And like a gyroscope, she explores three dimensions in her imagery: “shades of colors, shapes and textures.”
Her skillful and controlled use of impasto shows the masterful hand of expression. Sometimes muted color schemes with comforting squares, she’ll swing the other way with a geometry-skewering design. Santoro stays true to organic, three-dimensional themes and defies the academic part of Abstract Expressionism with her toolkit that includes synthetic sponges and the palette knife. After growing up on two continents, she continues her movement restlessly, joyfully traveling the planet. Likewise, in her artwork and designs, her wish is that the viewer take a journey each time they view the work knowing “at different points in life, the observer will find something different in there.” And this is why she insists on only alphanumeric codes to title her work: the viewer makes their own message in their own place and time.
MARINA SANTORO
ON
13CF-MT19, 2019
Acrylic on Canvas
15CF19, 2019
Acrylic on Canvas
20” x 27.5”
26MO-MT19, 2019
My work captures the unpredictability of life, its mystery, and its adventures. I paint visions I have seen in my dreams and emotions I have felt while awake. Memories and experiences may come to the surface, not forgotten, but chiseled and alive in my recollection. Using my non-dominant hand, I build the visible and hidden planes that make up the fabric of existence. I uncover the complexities of this world, where freedom and chaos go hand in hand and order may escape us no matter how hard we try to control the flow of things. As I access the sensorial data stored in my mind’s computer, I arrange and layer Images and impressions into a hyper-faceted augmented reality.
ORIGINAL MARINA SANTORO ARTWORKS ON
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