by Christina Sylvia Simantira
acrylics and charcoal on canvas
170 x 160 cm
 
"Simantira makes art to reflect herself, integrating her hasty daily life into her artistic production, through an explosion of thoughts and ideas that find refuge in a range of diverse materials. Different views on an intense and reactive reality are expressed through many different shades, textures and tones. [...] The artist is an explorer of life; she perceives art as another simple reality. It is not a way out, it is not a sanctuary, it is not even an end in itself: it's a way of life.
 
Using primary means of expression and giving shape to relatively large surfaces with bright colors, the artist is inspired by the basic principles of abstract art. Afterwards, she combines them, most of the time, with collage techniques, achieving her own unique result. The media she uses come from a random selection - fabrics, plastic parts, watercolors, newspapers, memorabilia, and garbage. They are then placed on the canvas without aiming at the structure, the composition, the overall flow of the painting, or the aesthetic result. […] For the artist, the surface is the dimension we call space."
 
Irene - Maria Nanouri