Cristina Cabrita

“The feminine nature is the protagonist of Cristina Cabrita's canvases, precisely because the woman has that particular sensitivity that can guide her and lead her to observe reality through the softness of the nuances, and it is perhaps by virtue of that same sensitivity that she bends to find the strength to be reborn, to reopen and to come out of the darkness of the fall. The use of light and shadow is necessary and functional to Cristina Cabrita to instill in the observer a sense of introspection, the sensation of the slow path that the protagonists take to reach the connection with themselves indispensable to become aware of events and to draw on what has been and transform it into the basis of what will be.” (critical text by Marta Lock)

About me,

I was born in Lisbon, in 1984. My relationship with art arises from an early age. I have always been a natural observer, attentive to people and details and i found in art a way to expand the plane of my observations and explore their meanings. My first contact with a painting studio was at the age of 15 and since than i have been exploring art in a self-taught way.

In 2007, i completed my degree in Architecture, in 2007, at the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon, and after finishing it, i decided to go to Mozambique, as a volunteer and with the intention of knowing my family roots.

For 10 years i did not take the brushes to dedicate myself to the studies and business. But in 2018 i decided to return to my passion and started painting.

My observant nature has always made me be very attentive to people, to observe their gestures, the way they spoke and what they said. My mother used to say that I was a "sponge". I believe that, unconsciously, I found more information in this observation than words or gestures. Even today I am attentive to details and I often fix myself on them when they convey feelings. These sensations are the guiding thread that lead me to the canvas with the intent of using color and form to give expression to what cannot be said ... "things" that I consider beautiful.

Perhaps because I like dance and photography so much, these sensitive stimuli appear to me most of the time caused by the observation of these same arts. For me, dance and photography are forms of expression feelings, and painting appears as a setting where these passions coexist. Through the dance i am passionate about the expression of the body and in photography the capture of detail and it is in painting that I make a personal interpretation of these “hidden intimate truths” or “inner voice”.

These are messages that I consider beautiful, and whose representation almost always reflects the feminine nature and sensuality. Dancers or women usually inhabit the canvases that at some specific moment, portrayed in half-light, evoke a particular sensation. They appear on the screen, on black backgrounds, like small flames of intense light. The volumetries of the skin appear and disappear, merging at the bottom of the canvas, often recalling the light / shadow contrasts of the stage photography.

These are medium-sized works painted in oil with monochromatic, white or black backgrounds contrasting with the sepia and earthy tones of the skin's volumetries. I sometimes like to introduce symbolic colors in hair strands or clothes.

There is a deep dialogue between shadow and light on each screen that aims to communicate the intimate energy present in each character. Above all, I intend to establish a connection with the observer that goes beyond the mimetic observation of the image and that aims to communicate the “inner voice” of each character.