Buenos Aires-based artist Maria Marta Morelli takes inspiration from nature and the clicle of time to create absolutely stunning flower still-life paintings full of meaning and symbolism.
I’m very interested in the cycle of time and I consider myself an environmental painter, focused on Mother Nature´s beauty. I find beauty in every natural object, under natural light and I can’t help painting them, representing any detail I see. Strong contrasts between lights and shadows are a visual effect I use in order to attract the viewer’s attention and then show him/her an extreme reality. Flowers represent youth, sensuality, tenderness, splendor, passion, love and beauty, but at the same time they represent the unbearable finitude of life. However with their incredible beauty and freshness, although transitory, they fill us with hope and convince us that life is worth living. The flowers that I usually paint, like peonies and roses, have a structure with enveloping petals, tender like the arms of a mother embracing her child and also sensual like woman’s bodies. I like to think of these curved structures as the beautiful female bodies from Renaissance. The compositions I like the most are those that have variety of colors and shapes, with flowers that begin to wither combined with fresher ones and buds as well, showing the beauty of each stage of life. Sunlight is an element of great importance in my paintings, showing the power of light, without which we could not live. Flowers also have a positive meaning in themselves. When someone gives you flowers, they are saying to you: “I love you” , “I admire you” “Thank you” , “Forgive me” , “I desire you”, “You are unique” etc. This is the kind of positive messages I want to transmit to the viewer too. Through my paintings I expect people to stop for a while in their hurried lives and admire the great beauty in Nature which is usually taken for granted.
Maria Marta Morelli
More info: Website, Instagram.
