Author: Luciana Mariano

Painter.

Defying gravity

3/12

The third painting of this series is called “Defying gravity”. It is about the feeling of loosing ground, loosing control and watching all your belongings, the possessions that once had a defined place in your surroundings becoming misplaced, out of order and out of reach. Your comfort zone is no longer there, you can’t rely on the way things used to be. Defying gravity messes up with your send of stability and safety. You are in a new place but you don’t belong, you dont understand how things work there yet. Being foreigner is an overwhelming sensation, specially in the beginning. You need to find connection and meaning to be able to function again. You must relearn the basics and find your own meaning and balance. You must regain your senses. Once you find your feet standing again on firm new ground you know nothing will be quite the same as they used to be.

This series can be viewed and purchased at MakslaXO Gallery in Riga, Latvia.

Under the waters of emotion

2/12

The second piece of this series is about emotions. It is a flood of feelings that seems like drowning, both in thoughts and in material things. What is lost, how will I survive this, what goes and what stays, are some of the questions that invade heart and occupy mind of someone that is about to move, change, relocate, flee, immigrate. The sensation of oddity, the heaviness and lightness of the things that you know so well but are not, or no longer are, a part of you; things and that you want, that you feel you can´t live without, but you can´t carry.
The water is the element that composes most of our human body, water is a part of us, brings us to life, we depend on it and it also can kill us. Under the waters of emotion is that overwhelming feeling of confusion, when what is you and what looks like a part of you are separating. It can be an opportunity of catching new breath but it can also mark a transition that feels like birth or like the death of somethings. If you are under water you need to escape in a hurry to survive, If water is slowly flooding your known space you need to evacuate and leave most things behind, if water is your playground you can plunge into it and then later enjoy the memories it granted you. There are uncountable possibilities of how and what the waters can mean for each story of immigration. Between the lines we all experience some common emotions and milestones on this ocean of possibilities. We are islands surrounded by sea. And each tempest writes a different story on this brief adventure of life.

Under the waters of emotion
60×90 cm – 2023 – Acrylics on canvas
Available for viewing and sales at MakslaXO Gallery, Riga, Latvia.

Luciana Mariano

…and they loved music.
…and they loved music.

1 / 12

First painting:

“ …and they loved music.”

60×90 – acrylics on linen – 2023

The rupture. It can be a war, a divorce, a deception or any reason to relocate. A new job, a new love, a new life. They loved music and they had a story prior the rupture but it no longer works, no longer serves its purpose; it is time leave the wreckage behind and embark on a journey of reconstruction. Heart and objects may be broken. It is never easy to leave what once was your safe ground but it is necessary to take chances towards a new beginning, towards any possibility of being whole again.

*This work and collection are available for acquisition at Maksla XO Gallery, in Riga, Latvia.

https://makslaxogalerija.lv

1This collection consists in 12 pieces, made during a 2 months residency at Serlachius Museum Residency in February-March 2023. All pieces are connected and they are a result of a research and deeper thought about what it means to leave, depart, immigrate, flee, relocate, move, change, restart. If you are leaving your known home and world behind, for any reason, you may experience some of this feelings. Maybe you are relocating for a new job or for love; perhaps you are moving because of a new opportunity, a loss of job, a divorce; or if your country is at war, if you need to escape for better life conditions, or any reason at all…some of this feelings meet everyone. Leaving, for any given reason, deploys a chain of feelings that are common for most situations. It is a kind of mourning, first the overwhelmed feeling of loss, then the various steps that makes you cope with the change, then acceptance and understanding, then adaptation and peace. Not necessarily all those feelings but surely some of them. And it is a very particular experience with common perceptions and feelings. I hope you can identify some of them, but specially I hope you can, after a harsh storm, find yourself again and feel that you found home.

Berlin

It is interesting how different times leaves different impressions, even for the same places. Eleven years ago, during a difficult time of my life, I was in Berlin for a few days and I remember it as a grey, cold and intimidating place. This time, in much happier circumstances, I felt it like a completely different city, vibrant, peaceful, interesting, colorful and welcoming place. 

I found it quite amusing to see how we reflect our inner feelings into what we find outside of us. The place is the same but the perception has changed 180° around, depending on the conditions you bring yourself into the that experience. Our inner state is like a mirror, or perhaps a magnifier, reflecting and amplifying whatever is already predominant in us, into the environments we find ourselves in. Places have no power to be anything else than what we make them to be.

When we are in a better place inside, all places outside will seem more welcoming and pleasant.

This time I feel that brought my very best to Berlin and in return, Berlin showed me its true colors. For 5 days I was surrounded by beautiful, lovely, creative, brilliant, kind people, art, places, situations. Every walk brought me peace and happiness. Every encounter gave me more hope and kindness. Every day had a new surprise to wonder upon. I made new friends, met true ones, had good laughs, felt welcome, comfortable, safe.

Thank you Berlin for wonderful days at Berlin Art Week and Positions Art Fair Berlin. My heart felt gratitude to all the collectors that supported our dreams and arts, the lovely visitors that gave me feedback on my work and all the amazing people involved in making this event as wonderful as it indeed is.

Gallery MakslaXO, Ilze Žeivate, Biruta Aurina, fellow artists Zane Žeivate (and David), Klavs Loris and Paulis Liepa, you were the light of my days there and your company made my experience the best it could ever be. 

Paldies, Kiitos, Tak, Obrigada, Thank you all!!! 

Danke schön Berlin!

LM

Old Times
Good old days - 30x40 - 2023

Often we meet and greet people on automatic gear. There is no eye contact, no hugs, not even a hand shake. We talk but it’s all rhetorical speech, we have no intention to really know how the person is doing, what is making him/her happy or miserable. We blame it on our scarsety of time, not without it being true; the age of information has sucked our lifes to the scary times described by the genius Charles Chaplin on Modern Times. We live mechanically, working to surviving and surviving to work. Social Media have very little to do with socializing and even less on being a media, it is more like a dead end burden we feel obliged to attend and respond to. We are being slaved by our cepllphones. Special moments have been neglected to second or third priority, if at all a priority. We now get emotional by watching tiny videos on tiny screens, just before continuing all the meaningless compulsory activities that took over our days and lifes. It feels like we have no choice. We are exhausted and it feels like everyone else is living a better life that the one we are. It is difficult to choose what we want when we have to do what we must. The new phone, the new car, the new next thing that will grant us the new debt, but not the peace we should be gaining. Most of us are not even struggling about the fancy things, the majority of humanity is still trying to figure out where they will sleep tonight or what their next meal will be, if it will at all be. Where did we go wrong?
And how to step out of this madness?
Few of us have the luxury to plan ahead. Only for today I know what to do: I will paint. And tonight, for sure, I will watch Modern Times. It seems that the fella knew what he was playing about. Art has the answer, and hopefully it will redeem us.

Art: Goof old days – 30×40 – 2023 – In exhibition at Naivistit Iittalassa.

Luciana Mariano ©

Lysice Castle

The cat in the room – Lysice Castle Collection – 2023

Another beautiful week at the wonderful Lysice Castle, in the Czech Republic. Institutions that appreciate naive art and want to compose their collection with quality and respect for the art and the artists. A week to be remembered, painting in the beautiful castle, among an amazing group of naive artists, being cared and pampered by the association with lovely outings, delicious food, fun gatherings. Thank you to the organisers, the sponsors, the members of the association, the artists and friends that we meet there and keep in the heart forever. Děkuji, kiitos, thank you, grazie, mercì.

Minun Suomeni

This is the country that gave me love, peace, safety, beauty… a home.

This is the place where I choose to live and to grow, the best version of the life I chose to have.

Kiitos Suomi, 14.4 on nyt minun uusi syntymäpäivä.

🇫🇮

Serlachius Residency 2023

It’s been a long time since I felt this happy. Time to create. Long working hours that felt like a holiday. Sometimes up to 12 hours of uninterrupted work, I didn’t even feel hungry. Mäntta was special and the special people I found there made me feel special too. Serlachius gave me this opportunity to thrive in what I love to do and I knew that 2 months would be far from enough. Even walking home after a long day, 3km in -23°C felt like a walk in the park. I didn’t get any fundings for this time and even though I had very little to live by, the beautiful studio with an amazing view and the warm, comfortable, cozy residency called Einola gave me everything I needed. Being in the Serlachius Residency changed everything for me. I understood that my existence matters, my art needs to be done because it is part of who I am and of what I have to say on this life time. I can’t stop now. Indeed, I have just started. In fact, I found home.

#SerlachiusResidency #Mänttä #SerlachiusMuseot #Suomi #Taide

Empathy

What are you hungry for?
Are your needs met?
Is your voice heard?
Are you seen?
Who cares about you have to say?
Empathy is the ability to listen and understand the voice of others, even if the message does not concern you, does not benefit you, even if you cannot help. Empathy is supporting and validating another person’s voice, pain, or problem, whether or not you can feel, understand, or relate to it. Empathy de-centres ego and re-centres humanity.
Problems become less burdensome when more people become part of the solution.

Empathy allows hope. Empathy is light and yet a powerful gesture.

Luciana Mariano ©