Artist Statement – Maria C. Friscia

ARTIST STATEMENT: EXPLORING NATURE

Whenever I go out in the fields, in the forest, on the mountains, or along running streams, I feel enchanted as I am surrounded by nature and its beauty. When observing the combination of trees, mountains and water, I am inspired from my soul, from the idea or feeling with which I associate during my observation of nature.

Forms of nature speak to me in terms of human emotions. Nature pleases me and touches me, evoking enthusiasm for solitude–a quasi-religious experience with God and the universe. Nature frees me from all onuses of life, and when looking at landscapes, I find myself concentrating on the “self”–that which is to me the spirit, the soul of being. Through investigating nature, I am compelled to understand myself and reflect on my role and purpose of being. Art and philosophy are one during this engaging time of observing nature and creating a landscape while painting. During this creative process I am in constant touch with my inner feelings. The woods, the hills, the cliffs, the water–these are all motifs for inspiration and reflection of a particular experience.

I create my landscape work as I understand it intellectually and my art is an expression of my concept of nature. When I choose my composition I sacrifice detail in order to improve the overall effect of the composition. It is the effect of nature that is important and not the descriptive detail of the landscape. I concentrate on the emotional expression or the aesthetic ideas that forms in nature may suggest. I do not feel obliged to represent nature realistically; this gives me the freedom to experiment with form, design and color.

The scope of my work is an awareness of the emotions which nature gives me. I want the viewer to enter my landscape and be part of the scene merging him or herself into the picture and experiencing, even if for just a moment, its quietude, tranquility and relationship with nature.