Review
Women with eyes that look away, mysterious, refined. Women and symbols: the woman and the apple, the woman with the book, with the owls, with the goose. These are works of Silvia Cataudella, aka “Silviacat”, an Artist who leads us into a fairy-tale world, a world seen with the eyes of a child, but told with the sensitivity of a woman. The first impression you get is a pre-Raphaelite reference Dante Gabriel Rossetti, but little by little we realize that the artist has developed a very personal and recognizable model. Her "creatures" are fragile, yes, but, like Samson, they have strength in their hair: masses of soft light blond, Titian-colored or black hair envelop the figure almost like a cloak. Sometimes they act as a background and support point for the subject, in the case of the "Mermaid" the hair becomes a sort of cradle-boat and with their shape they remind us of the waves of the sea and even the tail of the mermaids .
My considerations
Each artist, in addition to having his own style, also has "his" themes and "his" subjects, those that constitute the favorite source of his inspiration and make his creations immediately recognizable.
The absolute protagonist of my paintings and illustrations is the female figure, in its characteristic physical and spiritual traits: soft, sinuous, sensual, sweet, mysterious, melancholy, curious...
Is there something of Silvia in the women I paint? Surely! But it is an instinctive process, never wanted with awareness.
Naturally, I did not intend to portray my physical appearance in them, but by observing their faces I relive emotions, moods and ways of being that belong to me deeply and that make me feel serene, free, reassure and calm me down at any time. Sometimes I manage to objectify them on the canvas.
Perhaps these sometimes enigmatic creatures represent the ideal I would have liked to achieve; perhaps they come straight from the depths of my unconscious to give shape to my aspirations, my desires and my fears: I can't tell exactly, whoever asks me insistently (sometimes a little annoying) what my works, I can only respond by inviting them to "feel" what they communicate, rather than to "interpret" or "explain" their essence.
I'm not looking for Botticelli's ideal beauty: I'm looking for the intensity and uniqueness of the expression that is sometimes revealed even in the "defects" and in the disproportions.
So my women have very large hands, hands that can welcome and protect as well as reject, defend, shut out; very large eyes too, wide open and perplexed, with a look that is not perfectly aligned, restless, mobile, questioning; or ajar in the muffled atmosphere of the dream.
The elongated necks are clearly inspired by Modigliani, an Artist that I love very much. And Klimt's curves are not indifferent to me. The bodies are soft, with heavy, maternal breasts.
But the most conspicuous and characterizing element is the foliage; long and thick hair rendered through compact tonal areas.
Sinuous and enveloping hair, adhering and caressing the soft shapes of the bodies, like a magical and "primordial" dress, give dynamism and intensity to the painting.