On 3 September I was asked by Mary Jane Dodd to write a guest entry to this blog. I was excited and thankful for the opportunity, and I am happy to be here with you all.
My name is Ersi Marina Samará. I was born and grew up in Athens, Greece and I have been living in Spain for the last 31 years. I studied drawing and painting in Athens, and photography in Barcelona. I also love literature, so I attended creative writing courses for five years during the nineties. I got some short stories published in literary magazines. Through the years I have learned as much from my own experimentations and from the work of artists I admire as from my studies and books. You could say I am 50% self-taught and I certainly keep learning new things about my art and myself every day.
between words and fortune
I am constantly attracted to new techniques and media, and sometimes I need to step back from my work so that I can take everything in. I like working with watercolours, India ink and graphite, though I also use acrylic inks and gesso, and collaged elements.
the seamstress
untitled II
Lately I have been incorporating new materials to my work, particularly fabrics. I am still a beginner in textile art and I have a lot to learn, but fabrics, their colours and textures, their patterns and history, have always fascinated me, so I think they are in my work to stay.
contemporary embroidery
Many things inspire me, physical objects, images or even ideas. But everything goes through the filter of my feelings. I can be very cerebral analyzing a finished work, but I need to create with feeling, establishing a deeper communication with my work, listening to it and trying to satisfy its needs.
sometimes outside
I usually avoid strong visual statements that seem to cry out their message. I prefer whispers to shouts, suggestions to commands, serenity to tumult. But I admit I also like contrasts. Life is full of contradictions, people too. Sometimes trying to express these contrasts and contradictions in my work is all too tempting.
Eleonora di Toledo
a free interpretation of an original painting by Agnolo Bronzino
In 2011 I became very interested in book art, especially artists' books. That is an area yet to explore and I crave the time necessary to do it.
a long path with pauses - cover
a long path with pauses - inside pages
(editor's note:
ersi also made a beautiful contribution to the flags for peace project this past week, you can see it here)
ersi can be found -
