Art in Conversation with Ruxandra Papa
ABOUT THE ARTIST
For a rush expositor, the most at hand formula he is tempted to associate Ruxandra Papa’s painting, is the Surrealism. And certainly, far from refusing the fertile contract with the most impressive achievements of modern art, the artist expressed an indisputable predilection for the respective trend.
However, what seems to me worthy of being remarked is that her painting is not reducible to the kinship with this trend. Applying the syntagma of the magic realism we might much more approach the essence of the painting we are referring to.
Anyway, it is doubtless that, as she conceives her work, Ruxandra Papa proves a mature seriousness which enables her to get into the profoundness of things. It is thus clearly that she cannot be satisfied with the superficial treating, following certain prescriptions, of some threadbare subjects that drape themselves in the folds of the Surrealism.
Vasile Florea
RUXANDRA PAPA
Painter | Romania
Artist Statement
I never liked being asked what I wanted to say with a certain painting.
A painting is a multitude of feelings, contradictions, questions.
It can be piece of one's soul at a certain moment.
It can be an instant experience or an eternal one.
It can be the "before" or "after" reflection.
It is something magic…
A painting can not be reduced to just some words.
A painting asks questions, does not answer them.
A painting revealing everything at a first glance is poor.
It has to fascinate you and touch you each time you look at it, for a lifetime.
It is not meant to only bring joy to the eye, but most of all to the soul.
Just as Umberto Eco wrote his books with certain, different levels of reading in mind, my paintings are meant for different levels of perception and understanding... from philosophy to the simple joy of looking.
Sometimes, a question can be richer and more interesting than the answer itself. My paintings do not rely on typical symbols, even if they reveal the fundamental unity of many areas of reality.
The light as a primordial element allows the flow from one level to another, integrating meanings and shapes without particularizing them. In this context, light will define life, which tends to bring back
balance and unity, in an attempt to imitate the spirit in its quest for stability.
The philosophical symbols with a defining appearance identify, assimilate and unify heterogeneous levels and realities, irreducible in appearance. The human being itself is a symbol, thus its existence is enriched and amplified.
It will not be removed or estranged from itself, on the contrary, its own existence and destiny will be unveiled. Let us try not to damage the genuine existence and the clear-sightedness of the feelings with a fragmentary understanding or explanation which will only bring us to a shallow revelation of
experiences that all of us have inside.