"Ficus Ruby" Painting

Mara Giliberti (b. 1977, Argentina) is a contemporary visual artist working in oil, watercolour, and ceramics. Based in Porto, Portugal, her practice explores the botanical world — cacti, succulents, agaves, monsteras — as a meditation on cycles, isolation, and the natural sublime. Her work has been shown solo at Corretger5 Gallery (Barcelona), Maison826 (Braga), and in group exhibitions across Europe.

My artistic practice centers on the profound exploration of nature and its vital cycles, seeking to unearth transcendental meanings within the everyday. Through a meticulous gaze, I dissect the botanical universe —abstracting elements such as cacti, succulents, agaves, and monsteras from their usual surroundings— to investigate the boundaries between the natural, the fictitious, and the elusive reality.

Conceptual Axes

Cycle and Permanence: I am fascinated by the paradox that everything which by definition ends, by doing so constantly and relentlessly, becomes unalterable. The circular time of life and death redeems the mortality of organic beings.

Isolation and Enigma: By stripping flora of its context and placing organic, sensual forms against one- dimensional backgrounds or within nocturnal, dreamlike atmospheres, I invite the viewer into a suspended vision where the fantastic becomes tangible.

Duality of Mediums: My creative universe expands through the dialogue between the two-dimensionality of painting (mainly oil on canvas and watercolor) and the tactile three-dimensionality of both utilitarian and sculptural ceramics.

Creative Process and Philosophy

I seek to represent transcendence and beauty through form and the contrasts of light. Inspired by my moves and travels throughout the Americas and Europe, my work functions as a visual diary of botanical observation. Whether portraying the dense vegetation of a sleeping jungle or hand-modeling and painting ceramic pieces, my goal is to capture the tension between the fragility of the ephemeral and the force of the eternal.
Through my pieces, I propose a space to pause: an invitation to look closely at the textures of the living world and to discover the contours of the exceptional within the constant heartbeat of nature.