Painter Sílvia Marieta takes us through the meaning and process of her figurative art, specifically “Soul (At the Core).” Be inspired by her philosophy and see the step-by-step development of her contemporary realism art below.
My Painting Process for “Soul (At the Core)”
By Sílvia Marieta
In my painting, meaning often comes after the act of creation. Initially, there’s a need to materialize an identifiable excerpt of reality into forms, colors, lines, basically into an image. Realism fulfills this task, but reality alone doesn’t fulfill a deeper need. What happens beyond the external reality that we can feel and sense, and how can we represent it through a two-dimensional image?
To fulfill this purpose, I add some distortion, an intense palette, or isolate elements in the painting. Painting itself its not a mechanical act; dispositions, states of mind, and energy reflect my choices in many ways.
The construction of the painted image is a slow process that goes through several layers and stages. Initially, I work on the structure through drawing and chiaroscuro values, in monochrome. Gradually, I add layers of color, and it often happens that I don’t have the entire painting decided yet, even at this stage. There may be changes, added elements, and color tests in the final project itself, without fear, after all, it’s just painting.
The meaning, which I consider very important, even if not entirely clear in a rational way, is directly linked to my personal experiences, focusing on the impact that the external world (the most intense experiences) has on my internal world, and as a way of establishing and seeking a meeting point between what I experience and what the observer captures when viewing the painting. There is a point of connection in human experience, since we all have similar experiences.
In this particular painting, which I called “Soul” as a way of referring to the core, a child appears almost with their back to us, seemingly wrapped in a thermal blanket that reflects light and creates a halo effect, but on their back. It’s a representation of a simple theme, but with complex details, establishing a parallel to the human appearance that holds hidden so much complexity.
The “Soul” is also about a moment when everything stops and I try to protect what is most precious to me; it’s like a delicate piece that I wrap in a protective layer so that it doesn’t break. It’s a metaphor for motherhood, the bond with a child, the need to protect that being from the pains of the world.
Connect with the artist at silviamarieta.art.
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Blog post prepared for the web by Cherie Dawn Haas, Editor of Realism Today, the site for contemporary realism art instruction and inspiration
