” Words without mirrors
sneak through the days… ” —Maria Stamati (Gentle Hour, 2003)
Reflections, thoughts, statements are conveyed through the graphs and poetic speech of Maria Stamati in a confessional and revealing work. Meaningful statements with purity of speech flow through her seductive writing “…and the words are veins, blood flows through them”, wrote Yannis Ritsos, but also the visual language complements the transfer of meanings and opens dialogues with the power of the image.
With her obvious spontaneity in her sketches, Maria Stamati creates a visual world that reveals a deep inwardness. Her narrative eloquence is evident, despite the minimalist appearance of the works and the sparing use of colours.
In the colour palette she incorporates, among others, white on an earthy dark background, rendering strong contrasts and sometimes creating the illusion of a three-dimensional surface.
Her -predominantly aniconic- pictorial choices narrate personal concerns, inner reflections and confess the unspoken things of life, leaving complete freedom to the viewer to interpret them in his or her own way. Her gestural brushstrokes shape entire universes and emit a special dynamism.
Volumes, geometric shapes, elaborate formations and combinations, deformations, intense mobility, all contribute to her characteristically intense expressiveness. The generally rhythmic pulse of the painted surfaces and the sensitivity expressed in her compositions are not lacking in descriptive sharpness and noticeable pictorial concerns.
Associations and conceptual references through poetic phrases and dynamic images of unrealistic representation in illusory spaces are the driving force of this multifaceted artist, who invites us on a peculiar journey of discourse and visual communication.
Louiza Karapidaki
MA II – Art Historian
- Poetry Collection «With Multifaceted Shading»
- Texts – Reviews