Reflec – Unknown Oil & Pastel on Canvas 32” x 32”
Due to her work, Susana Rapallo has traveled the world, relocating every three to five years. Currently based in Madrid, her work has taken on rich red and gold tones, spiraling out in ripples of feeling. Painting with oils and pastels on a range of surfaces, Rapallo is currently exploring female relationships, the complexities of emotion, and feelings within the family dynamic. “Art for me is a personal journey,” Rapallo says. “It’s a challenging process to express my feelings and vision on a canvas.”
Reflec – Surprise Oil & Pastel on Canvas 32” x 32”
Rapallo’s paintings are filled with deconstructed symbols: fruits are represented by color alone, or are hinted at with small figurative suggestions. Objects are cut and displaced, suggesting that something is amiss. Backgrounds are dislocated to imply conflict in a relationship. Her paintings transition between the figurative and the abstract, sometimes blending the two, challenging the notions of her viewers.
Reflec, her current series, focuses on women and a confluence of emotions ranging from joy to doubt. The complexity of content is magnified by Rapallo’s use of different paints. She often combines pastels and oils, acrylic, ink and powder pigments, alternating between paper, linen, canvas and iPad drawings. Despite the differences in material or technique, the work is absolutely unified, a startling convergence of purpose.
Susana in her studio
Rapallo has drawn inspiration from her time in Europe, the United States, and China, but it is Brazil, her home, that has left the greatest mark. Describing her country as a European culture merged with an energetic African influence, she sees Brazil as a place of rhythm and vivid colors. “My life has been filled with many adventures, and in each one of them I discovered more of myself,” Rapallo says. “This kaleidoscope of people and places has shaped and changed my life and my own journey.”
www.susanarapallo.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Susana_Rapallo.aspx