The Choice Is Yours Painting by Elisa Rossi

As an artist I like to experiment with different mediums and to explore both abstraction and representation of figures. My abstract drawings and paintings emerge spontaneously mostly, creating bridges between physical and metaphysical worlds, between what I see in physical reality and what I am feeling in the subtle bodies. I develop in parallel a bodywork of expressive portraits with which I capture emotional states and glimpses into the subjects’ worlds and humanity. I choose to paint a variety of subjects, anything that moves me, inspires me and that I deeply connect to: musicians, dancers, friends, natural elements, animals, places that I visited, circus and carnival costumes, archetypes, vintage pictures, advertising campaign references, among others. The realization of portraits often entails an al chemical and trans-formative process, as I manipulate through painting to tell visually the story behind the different subjects by delivering a rewritten version of it nuanced with vibrant colors and sometimes fictional added details.  My creative process fluctuates between subconscious flow of images, dreamlike states and structured execution. There's a tango between what I let free to flow and what I consciously choose to represent and render. I approach the dynamic with an open state of mind that allows me to translate through art symbolic messages and visual allegories that capture the essence of evolutionary stages of civilization or collective and individual moods and contemporary trends. My intention is to let the observer  shape his/her own dialogue with the artwork and experience it with the highest degree of freedom. I want to offer an experience, an occasion to connect with one's inner world, to share through artistic expression what is hard to explain otherwise. In my works I want to honor and remind of the magic and the mystery that surrounds us and hides in plain sight in the most simple things. The characters and beings that populate some of my drawings and paintings stem from dreamlike states, I never fully know them but the more I paint them, the more familiar they become and the more meaningful becomes the message that they carry. Metaphorically, they represent an invitation to me and to all of the dear people who decide to connect with my art and to embrace the unknown, the uncertainty, to trust without need to over-analyze and explain.