The Brasiliana Series - Law

by Silvana Lacreta Ravena

47 x 26 inches • encaustic on plywood $nfs

Living abroad has turned ideas like plurality, diversity and alterity (the state of being other) into a personal daily experience, leading me to approach my cultural background from a different perspective. In “The Brasilianas” I depart from the “state of being the other” in a different country as an option instead of the result of diaspora, to explore the interplay between culture and identity based on my memories of Brazil, my home land. In this series the exchanging of different life styles, different habits, beliefs and perceptions is interwoven with aspects of the Brazilian culture which, I believe, have influenced my identity as an artist . With these paintings I invite the viewer to share my memories of some of the crazy rhythms of the Brazilian core cities like Sao Paulo, my hometown; the diversity of people coming from everywhere to make Brazil their home; and the complexity of our social problems, chaos and beauty. Here I recall a few surprising forms that I’ve seen in Brazilian landscapes, especially on the seashore; free flowing lines drawn by a Capoeira dance (traditional Brazilian art form); special colors that caught my eye while walking in the rain forest. There are also some textures I recall having seen on the walls of old baroque cities and the amazing yellows spread all over by the light of the tropical sun. I chose the encaustic technique as the art form to bring those memories to life. The application of heat between layers of brushstrokes makes encaustic unique, and the work with this ancient art form, and more specifically, wax, is intensely related to the concept of memory. Heat binds each layer to the layer applied before it, creating a rich and complex surface. To me, this procedure is reminiscent of the process we use to store memories. In addition to that, the historical significance of the encaustic as one of first techniques in painting allied to its plastic qualities and procedures brings a dimension of passage of time to “The Brasilianas”. In this series, as in all my other encaustic paintings, I work with many layers of colors and textures, seeking to intensify the physicality of the painting. As a psychologist I consider the expression of texture as a tool to reach profound levels of the psyche. As an artist, I am deeply interested in continuous feedback between matter and sensation, exploring the boundaries of two and three dimensions. Images, for me, are a psychological experience of pleasure, culturally determined and socially legitimated. My overall intention is to give the viewer an opportunity to experience the presence of the painting as a critical response to the ongoing dematerialization of the reality of our contemporary world.