Avdia Van Art
“Things are not difficult to make; what is difficult is putting ourselves in the state of mind to make them.” Constantin Brancusi
Why is an artist life important to know and what influence has the creative process for the viewer? To answer to this question we’ll take a view in the background of the artist. Avdia Van Art grew up in Bucharest, Romania where she received her Master in Fine Arts in 1988, specialized in Textile Art.
Recently she exposed her artworks in the Museum Red Star Line Antwerp, Belgium where she lives.
After graduating from the Art Academy, she participated in numerous exhibitions both in the country and abroad.
Many years she succeed to sell paintings monthly, especially in graphics and oil painting, many of them were painted realistic of surrealistic.
The unique vision of plastic approach of this talented artist invites the viewer in a self-discovery, where the form becomes the mirror in which each of us can look at ourselves. In an abstract way she ‘s admire the beauty of nature, but also the feminine symbol and this become perceptions of personal realities transposed on the canvas in the form of symbols giving several meanings.
Avdia Van Art studied ‘Family and Psychology Sciences in Brussels’ and exposed in her career more than 40 exhibitions in Belgium, U.K., Germany and Romania. As a visual artist and psychologist, she paints acrylic paint / oil paint on canvas. In addition she also makes drawings which are inspired from narrative stories and also from her own life experiences. Avdia Van Art was born in Iasi, and practically her grandmother, also an artist discovered her talent for drawing since she was a little child. She was fascinated by the sunrise, she drew human figures and, practically, she looked at the world with different eyes. Sometimes she was able to watch for hours the shapes of the clouds that seemed to take unreal shapes of fantastic animals. Later on she will use these in her art.
After moving with her family to Antwerp in 2003 she began to paint and participate to different exhibitions. Avdia chose to emigrate in order to develop her art. Art is what helps her to reconcile her soul with the idea that she is just a traveler in a foreign country.
About her first years in Antwerp when she had a very sad life experience she’s remembering:
“At that time I was painting, sometimes without stopping, I was not thinking about anything, I felt that my soul was strengthening as I painted and the sadness of losing my family began to fade, although it was always there, in my soul.
My therapy was through art and it helped me a lot to overcome this period. The word ‘longing’ cannot be translated into any other language. According to Lucian Blaga, (a Romanian writer) it means a state of mind that devastates and subjugates like a spell or a cosmic disease. Experiencing homesickness can of course influence the art of the migrant in an inevitable way. “Established in Belgium the artist admires the culture and history of the Flemish world, and the music that the port of Anwerpen emanates fascinates her. This place is a source of inspiration for her works. She participated to different exhibitions and events in Antwerp.
Avdia is fascinated about the relationship between art and psychology and she created series of bodyworks which explore this theme. The main concept which you can observe in her oil, acryl and mixed media artwork is about the power of nature and human identity.
Art therapy has helped me a lot to overcome difficult times in my life.
“The evolution of my art materialized later when I approached new styles in painting. From figurative and realism where the subjects I painted could be easily understood and perceived by the public, I passed into a phase where I needed to internalize and abstract everything related to my being. The feelings, thoughts and emotions that had gathered in my mind I put on the canvases painted by me, but in a personal way and no longer had a direct connection with reality. I keep the drawings made then and now because they are a faithful radiograph of that period of my life. I look for the essence,
I select the shapes and my color palette. It's like composing a symphony in colors and not with musical notes. Our subconscious records a lot of everyday reality and when we paint we establish the connection with our inner self.
The look, the eyes of the people can speak and reveal so many stories!” In 2019 the artist had organized a cultural project ‘Art and Migration,’ in the Rivierenhof Gallery in the Deurne District of Antwerp, which enjoyed much success and attention from the media and the public.
She participate every year to Plein Air exhibitions organized by the Council of Antwerp as Cadixroute and Open Ateliers. Her love for the port of Antwerp, the sounds of ships coming and going, the storytelling history of emigrants from the last century and now inspiring the artiste. Maybe this is the reason why she chose to be a guide at the Red Star Line Museum, where tourists can learn about the great migration of the last century, the dramas and the dream of emigrating to America. In present she participate with a few drawings , pics and a painting to the exhibition organized by ‘Red Star Line’ Museum in Antwerp.
Avdia spent several years developing her style, drawing upon techniques she used in acrylic, oil colors, aquarelle and gouache technique and experimented more in mixed media adding more structure and relief to her paintings. Her interest for silk painting and drawings helped her to create interesting compositions within her paintings. Her subjects are inspired from the nature and human feelings. Coming to Belgium she changed her style in painting: from some years she’s painting abstractly and use the four nature elements in her paintings such as Water, Fire, Earth and Air. In her paintings the viewer can feel the vibration and energy of colors inviting him to reflect and is also an invitation to the mind and soul for a better connection with the artist.
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