This interview forms part of a series of features on artists who participated in our ‘Together for Our Planet’ initiative. The ‘Together for Our Planet’ exhibition and publication is a collaboration between Occhi Arts and Entertainment and Phoenix FTA Limited, a UK-based sustainability strategy consultancy. Inspired by the UK Creative Earth Competition, Occhi Arts and Entertainment, and Phoenix FTA Limited invited artists from around the world to creatively engage with key topics of concern at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow. The initiative provided artists with a renewed opportunity to visually express their views to world leaders and community stakeholders by producing 2D artwork.
Ana Maria Guta was born in Onesti, Bacau, Romania, on January 20, 1990, shortly after the fall of communism, and lives in Constanta, Romania. She spent her childhood in the countryside with her adoptive grandparents, who gave her a lot of unconditional love and the freedom to explore nature and to establish authentic relationships with the environment she came in contact with. We had the opportunity to speak to her about her exhibition and publication entry titled,’ Intrusion’
Thank you for agreeing to this interview. Congratulations on your career to date. For readers who are unfamiliar with you, how were you introduced to the arts?
Hello. Thank you very much for your kind words. My name is Ana – Maria Guta and I am a self-thought artist. I remember wanting to be more when I was little, but the first word I said to the curious people who asked me this question was ‘painter’. Then came the nun, the skater, the doctor ( but I was afraid of blood ), the journalist, and the gymnast.
I spent my childhood in the countryside with my adoptive grandparents, who gave me a lot of unconditional love and the freedom to explore nature and to establish authentic relationships with the environment I came in contact with. My grandparents were very religious Christians and took me to church every Sunday. So I started painting icons, but in time I gave up, taking my life in other ways.
I studied natural sciences at the “Vasile Alecsandri National College”, Bacau, Romania, and then studied journalism and mass communication at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza University”. After two years of journalism, I had renounced at university because I can not express myself as I would have liked and didn’t want to be part of a world where there seems to be less ethical values and truth.
After giving up a career in a fine jewelry multinational in 2019, I had decided that I need to express myself doing what I love the most, what my soul loves, try to express what I feel, think and tell my truth.
Thus, I pursue my childhood desire to be an abstract painter and also a holistic energy therapist, which can be interpreted as a meeting between a nun and a doctor. The paths of destiny are mysterious. I want to contribute to making the world a better place, to inspire and give love, courage and hope through my art, and to give compassion and help through holistic energy therapy to those who have an open mind and heart.
What was the emotional drive in becoming an artist?
For me, art is a healing process, a spiritual process. I think I wanted to express myself more, to express my emotions and feelings in color. In this process of inner development, I want to know myself more, to express authentically and intuitively what I feel without any limits.
What encouraged you to participate in the ‘COP26: Together For Our Planet’ exhibition?
What I wanted to do in participating in the ‘COP26: Together For Our Planet’ exhibition was to expose the truth. I think I can do this much better through art than by being a journalist.
Please tell us more about your exhibition entry, and how did you feel during the creative process?
“Intrusion” is about the excessive building of blocks to the detriment of nearby nature. In my current city, Constanta, which is located on the Black Sea coast, in the last twenty years it has been built excessively, the economic interest prevailing due to the benefits brought by these hotels or apartments rented during the summer season. There are no more wild beaches and the largest park is also chopped up to put buildings instead of trees. They cut down trees to expand a mall.
My artwork is inspired by the sight of this image on a beautiful evening when riding, I stopped by the Lake Siutghiol, located on the opposite side of the sea, to admire the sunset. I took a photo that I transposed on a canvas panel in my own way to emphasize and draw attention to human intervention on the environment. I used acrylic paints and markers, brush, knife, and splashes using an older toothbrush. I wanted to capture and personalize the emotion of nature, the way it feels when it is invaded by intrusive constructions.
I think we need to be more aware of the environment, of our visible and invisible relationship with nature because the consequences of our economic behavior are devastating in the long run. We are in a hurry to die instead of maintaining a healthy balance and harmony with nature.
How do you feel your entry and participation in the ‘Together For Our Planet’ initiative will impact your future practice?
I believe that my participation in the ‘Together For Our Planet’ initiative will give me more courage to support through art causes that require attention, that put first the relationship between human beings and other living beings, whether they are plants or animals. I feel honored and grateful to have participated in this project designed to raise awareness, inspire and sound the alarm about collective human behavior in relation to the environment.
What projects are you currently working on?
As a novelty, I will participate with the artwork “Intrusion” in March, in the exhibition “Urban Architecture” organized by the Ion Mincu University of Architecture in Bucharest in collaboration with the “Art Archive Gallery”. It will be a charity exhibition for the benefit of the Romanian Red Cross.
In addition, I am working on a project that seeks to support peace, given the current situation of our neighbors in Ukraine. My heart breaks when I see that life ends in such a violent way for many innocent human beings because of political interests. No one should have the right to take another person’s life, there is no such thing. In these moments it is necessary to be in solidarity with each other, to offer love and compassion, and to pray each in our own way for peace. Beyond borders, which are only on paper, beyond any kind of label we are all the same. Hatred and violence are useless. Love, unity, peace are the answers.
Behind me, you can see one of the most recent artworks, “To the crystal castle”.
Images
“Swimming among thoughts” Ana with “To the crystal castle”.
For further information on the ‘Together for Our Planet’ initiative visit https://www.occhicontemporary.art/togetherforourplanetinitiative
For further information on the artist visit the following links
- linktr.ee/ampsoulartbyAnaMariaPodaru
- https://www.instagram.com/amgsoulart/
- https://www.artmajeur.com/anamariaguta
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