Meet the artist

Emi Avora

Built up by layers of thin oil paint, paintings by Emi Avora are based on sketches, drawings, glimpses and a variety of sources, from glossy magazines to historical architecture (a combination of appreciation of the past and curiosity for the future). Through an exaggeration of elements and invention of shapes the artist tried in her work not only to describe an extravagant, opulent and cinematic realm but also to create dreamlike visions putting the viewer into a place that hovers between reality and fiction, between countries and centuries.

Avora combines the linear with baroque details, creating a somehow unfocused visual journey. The layers of translucent paint gradually form the image allowing a web of brush-strokes to describe its spaces. An intense sense of light is of great significance in the work as it acts as way in or an exit point out of that journey. It allows suggestions of infinity or describes claustrophobic areas. The colours are very particular, describing beauty that borders with decadence, grandeur that verges onto repulsion. Some of the colours are used to create a dense almost saturated environment, whereas others are more diffused and light-hearted. In the process of painting, distortion is allowed to take place and often emphasises the fictional. Through her paintings she tries to position the viewer into places of wonder and sometimes anxiety, exploring otherworldly beauty through using the familiar.

Work by this artist