Mirela
My exhibition explores the elements that make up the urban environment, the feelings they convey and their ubiquitous presence on a daily basis. I explicitly explore the relationship between the city landscape, movement and the interaction of artificial light with built structures. I’m interested in how at night, artificial lights define the cityscape, creating a sense of structure, rich in lines, colors and composition. I explore the dynamism of the ever changing aspect of a city whilst juxtaposing the solitude and stillness of these elements through the use of photography, painting and ceramic sculpture. By depicting a city through the prominent yet overlooked elements like transport, towering buildings and quiet nocturnal streets, I want to invite the viewers to project themselves into the pieces. I want the overall atmosphere to transmit sombreness with emphasis on isolation through solitary figures.
This theme of cityscape solitude is especially explored through works like The Alley by Night which delves into solitude enclosed by a dominating alley. It took strong inspiration from Edward Hopper’s use of lighting to evoke a cinematic stillness. The piece’s cobalt blue and gradients of yellow, and angled umbrellas guide the viewer’s eyes into the depths of the composition mirroring the way light guides movement. The controlled blending of colors, present in the majority of my pieces, enhances distance and light interaction, also contributing to a feeling of calm. Its geometric framing and imposing walls convey the psychological weight of isolation within city walls. My exploration of isolation and static cityscapes generated my contrasting exploration of motion like in Light Progression and Dashing Yellow. This is because I want to remind the audience that even in calmness, in still city structures, life and motion never stop. Inspired by long exposure photography, Light Progression creates this movement using sweeping, often colorful brushstrokes mimicking light streaks on transit. It inspired me into long exposure photography which forms shapes from mere light streaks. Dashing Yellow expands on this, while connecting back to the isolated figure dead center of the piece, contrasting stillness and motion. It also interplays the linearity of industrialized spaces through the streaks of movement and that of the flooring being broken with the organic shape of people, as if we break this automated environment with life. These works remind the audience of the fleeting nature of urban life, capturing moments in flux, clashing ephemeral and extended moments.
I was allocated a linear space on two walls, opposite of each other, it forms a pathway, evoking a street format. The audience walks past, immersed from both sides. I curated my pieces by balancing out, in a way breaking static scenes with those of motion by position motion pieces between still ones. This reminds the audience of the ever changing and constant motion within a city as they jump from one work to another. I positioned The Alley by Night, my biggest piece, at the start to immediately immerge viewers into the sombre aesthetic of the exhibition. Each side is filled with immersive visuals which enhances the enclosed, intimidating feeling of the city. This is further emphasized through the position of the pieces: they all take a view from a lower perspective, giving attention to the tall structure depicted, which I took advantage of by positioning my pieces a bit higher, to enhance this towering feeling. This makes the audience feel insignificant when faced with the immensity of the city. Based on color, I positioned Dashing yellow next to Illuminated Heights to contrast and enhance the bold yellow with the black and white, making co visual contrast.
Through this exhibition, I wish for viewers to reconsider how they perceive the built environment in which they live within and give thought to the complex interaction of light and motion within nightlife where isolation becomes familiar. My pieces are meant to immerse the viewer with both the constantly moving environment and stillness found within the quiet urban spaces evoking solitude and introspection. I want exploration of industrial landscapes and their ever changing but ceaseless nature fosters a deeper appreciation for the overlooked elements within our daily lives, challenging how we understand the spaces in which we inhabit and fill with life’s ephemeral moments.
The Alley by Night (October 2024)
Acrylic on Canvas
179 x 69 cm
The Alley by Night based on my photo, captures the quiet stillness of the cityscape, exploring the interplay of light and linearity in the city at night. It contrasts sharp silhouettes against a structural alley. Layered brushstrokes inspired by Edward Hopper, are used for gradients to enhance the glowy feel and create a cinematic scene. One point perspective captures depth. Through smooth blending and contrast between colors, the work explores the role of light to create a sombre feel.
Skeletal Street Life (December 2023)
Ceramic and oxides
Sculpture 1: 28 x 13 x 13 cm
Sculpture 2: 17 x 13 x 13 cm
Skeletal Street Life, merges infrastructures: bridges and buildings to shape surroundings with new merged structures. By analyzing Henry Moore’s use of negative and positive space, I incorporated arches to guide viewers' eyes, showing the transition from nature to industrial environments. Inspired by Natalie Rosin, I used slab-built, adding stability and variation to reflect architectural irregularities. This ties to Street Life Overview’ where natural elements blend with urban structures.
Dashing Yellow (February 2025)
Acrylic paint, wax pastel on canvas
60 x 90 cm
Dashing Yellow explores urban motion and fleeting moments. Inspired by Gerhard Richard’s blurred abstraction, I layered acrylic paint and wax pastels to enhance blend and blur to evoke movement. The bold yellow contrasts with streaks, conveying speed while the zigzag floor influenced by futurism, reinforces direction. The isolated figure breaks the horizontal linearity with organic forms, emphasizing clash between stillness and acceleration of transit settings.
