Georgia Michaelide Saad
My main preoccupation in terms of my work has been for many years the subject of landscape and my experience of nature. It appears that there is a widely – held view that landscape is an anachronism in contemporary painting and not a subject for ‘ serious – minded ‘ artists. I contend that landscape painting is more complex and far- reaching than pleasant and homely views of nature and in the sense that it can extend and renew our experience of the world it remains extremely relevant.
In my landscape representations I have used the form of the fragment ( the paintings are interpretations of fragments of nature ). The fragment , however , relates at the same time to a larger , transcendent reality which gives unity and coherence to the fragments. I believe that this transcendent reality can be grasped more adequately through the use of imagination and intuition and the human capacity for symbolic experiencing . Nature can provide such a symbolic framework .
In my latest work I have focused on the microcosm – close-ups of flowers . As a result of focusing on a single flower and then enlarging it each flower assumes its own separate identity. So, in a sense, these paintings are portraits of flowers. There are strong affinities between this particular body of work and the flower paintings of the great American artist Georgia O’ Keeffe. O’Keeffe has obviously been an influence but my intention was not to copy her work. Any similarities are a result , I think , of a similar empathy with the natural world.
My paintings are primarily expressive of a romantic sensibility and there are also affinities between my work and that of the Romantic painters , particularly Caspar David Friedrich ( in my paintings of the sea and rocks ). The traditions of naturalism and modernism are further influences on my work.
I use traditional materials such as oil paints , brushes and canvas , as I find them suitable to my method of working and I consider them to belong to the craft of painting which is of primary concern to me.
My paintings are ultimately expressive of my attempts to find unity and continuity in a contemporary experience which is characterized by flux and relativity.
