FLAVIA SOUZA
Statement
At the young age of 6, I had experiences that pulled me into a deep questioning of Reality. I became obsessed with nuns and followed them around everywhere. I played with seeds, plants and insects exploring the natural laws of creation. As I grew older, laws of mathematics and physics drew me further, followed by philosophy and metaphysics. Concurrently, Drawing became a favorite way to recreate the external world while introducing the vocabulary of psychological and imaginary realms. This inner exploration was a refuge from the instability of growing up as a third culture kid in a patriarchal paradigm. The desire to ‘reconcile inner and outer worlds’ became a calling unto itself. So, a spiritual fervor and ‘making things’, coalesced.
Art has since been a way to express my longing for Reality and Truth through Being.
Mediums and styles vary depending on what part of that search I am in – from disciplined rigorous repetition, as in meditation, to a fearless expression of my love for Life. Drawing has been at the root of most of my work as well as a subtle relationship with materials - I ‘read’ them, understand them and relate them - creating worlds as it were and expressing Love, however it shows up.
That early call was in the end a call to Love, and I love through art.
ROOM S-4-04, 408
Title: “Death is the Sweetest Life”, 2020, Oil on oilcloth, 48 x 78 inches (Detail)
Title: “Solid Space”, 2014, Glitter and gouache on Japanese paper, 18 x 13 inches
Title: “Hope”, 2020, Oil on oilcloth, 54 x 38 ½ inches