| TEODORA PICA
"Outlandish Beauty"
by
Robert Bernier PARCOURS,
septembre 2005 vol11 - numero 2
Over
the years, the landscape of Québécois painting
has been considerably enriched by the arrival of numerous
immigrant artists, particularly from Eastern Europe. There,
painting relies on a rigorous tradition founded on mastering
the skill, without, however, being a reproductive art.
Like elsewhere, true artists go beyond method to find
their individual styles; the acquired knowledge is, nevertheless,
always visible in their work. Teodora Pica’s painting
is illustrative of this situation. Born in Romania, the
artist was introduced to painting by her father, who had
been initiated in art by his grand-father. Both men were
well-known muralists and painters of icons. And in preparing
her canvases, Teodora Pica draws inspiration from the
techniques of icon painting.
In
her works, Pica proposes three approaches that are at
the same time different and complementary. The landscape,
the floral nature, and the non-figurative are as many
distinct treatments that find a common ground particularly
in the artist’s preoccupation with the surface structure.
In her landscapes, for example, aerial and vaporous as
if a light sfumato bathed and infiltrated nature, arise
poetic works, calm and contemplative, evocative of Tuscany,
spoiling the eye with their enigmatic light. The elaborated
textures create a relief that complements the general
feel of the work. At the sight of such oeuvres, one cannot
help but observe a connotation that is simultaneously
spiritual and sensual without manifesting internal contradiction.
Our senses are captivated and guide us towards a beautiful
and strange inner world.
Pica’s
still lifs particularly the vases of flowers, are approached
by the artist in a more formal way. She pays much attention
to the background structure that animates the work to
the point where one begins to wonder if the subject of
the painting is really the bouquet, or the background
itself. Consequently, a more plastic and less suggestive
communication with the senses emerges. Here as well, the
artist creates textures that produce an even more ludic
effect through the play of lines interspeced within the
composition.
Her
non-figurative works are somewhat less known, particularly
in Quebec, and stand halfway between the two manners discussed
above. They translate the same concern for both composition
and surface structure. Pica employs motifs and shapes
that emanate a sensuality and ethereality also perceivable
in her landscapes, especially in those pieces depicting
an organic universe that appears to be suspended in the
air. Other works remind us of the underwater world, and
allow the sight to find instantaneous pleasure in exploring
each and every little fragment of the pictorial matter.
A matter that is rich and textured, catching the eye and
delighting the senses.
Pica
lives and works in Toronto. Her works are increasingly
present in Quebec; Michel Bigué Gallery in Saint-Saveur-des-Monts,
for example, features a large variety of her paintings.
And if you have already become interested, go out there
and discover an artist that is far from ordinary
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