Year of creation | 2018 |
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Dimensions | 150 W × 150 H × 4 D cm |
Type of art | painting |
Style | realism |
Genre | flower |
Materials | oil, wood |
After a long winter in Maryland, this Helleborus was the first plant to raise from the snow. It was tiny and delicate but at the same time strong enough to break through the cold layer of ice. That's why I decided to paint it as a huge and strong plant. Humble vegetation, subdued and controlled, urban. Plants that we do not pay attention to, a reminder of an increasingly weak and remote link with nature. Leaves and branches relocated in an even more humanized context, surrounded by fabrics and plastics and openly observed by the eye of a lens. Thanks to the painting they become protagonists, acquiring a sudden dignity. This new role allows them to talk about the arrogance and lack of understanding that on many occasions dominates human actions in their relationship with nature and with their own origins. The real protagonist of my works is the human being, although it is not as worthy of appearing in them as a simple twig.
Maite Bäckman is of Swedish-Colombian origin, although she was born and raised in Madrid, Spain. At eighteen she moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where she began her artistic studies. After five years, she returned to Madrid to study Fine Arts, finally getting her degree in Bellas Artes at La Universidad Complutense de Madrid. As a professional, she has carried out numerous works of design, illustration and photography. Since 2015, she has fully focused on her paintings. She uses nature, generally plants and flowers that she collects from her surroundings, to deepen the relation of humans with their environment, trying to also understand our own nature as humans. As a frequent visitor to the Prado Museum, that started when she was very young, she has revisited classical painters such as Velazquez, Tiziano or Rembrandt. They all have a distinct influence on her work. She has held numerous exhibitions in Spain, both solo and collective. Since 2017 she has produced part of her work in Maryland, US.