Pale Pink Lotus with Golden Bamboo, Vera Conversazione d’Amore series by Maggie Simonelli
Encaustic (cosmetic grade beeswax), 24 karat gold leaf, cosmetics: Chanel Passion lipstick +Chanel Impulsion eyeshadow, Rose d’Or, Chinese cinnabar, Arabian malachite, aluminum leaf, bee pollen and essential oil of lotus on birch All 4 panels: 19” x 64” photos taken by the artist with iPhine 5
Press Release: Vera Conversazione d’Amore
new paintings by Maggie Simonelli at Gary Marotta Fine Art
Gary Marotta Fine Art is pleased to announce the exhibition of new works in encaustic by maggie simonelli.
The exhibit opens Friday July, 25th.
Please join us for an artist's reception from 7-9 pm both Friday July 25th and Saturday, July 26th
at Gary Marotta Fine Art located at 162 Commerical Street in Provincetown MA.
Manhattan based artist, Maggie Simonelli works with nature using encaustic technique. Simonelli is exhibiting a new group of encaustic paintings titled Vera Conversazione d'Amore, part of larger series Eve's Garden creating paintings of flowers made with handmade paints using cosmetic grade beeswax (her lipstick paintings). Continuing on the theme of the Garden, the artist found her inspiration from a lovers conversation in a sacred garden.
Simonelli says of her new series Vera Conversazione d'Amore, "the whole idea for the series came to me an internal conversation, it began with these 3 art postcards on my inspiration wall in my studio and continued into this dialogue between materials I was using, the paintings I was creating and the artworks from the past. It was a surprise and a gift."
Trio of art postcards
from the artist's Inspiration wall in her studio:
Left: Dhanasri Ragini c. 1790 (Punjab Hills, Kangra) Central: Red Rose e from Yuan Dynasty, Chinese red carved lacquer dish (1279-1368) and Right: Portrait of a Prince from late 17th c. (Mughal Style, Aurangzeb Period)
“I, you, he, she, we
In the garden of mystic lovers,
these are not true distinctions.”
― Rumi
The artist plays on the theme of Sacra Conversazione translated as the Holy Conversation (yet always titled in its original Italian name) that describes a central theme for painters during the Renaissance in which the Virgin Mary sits with Jesus on her lap surrounded by Saints in the Divine Garden. The artist inspired by this idea of a divine conversation in the garden, continues the conversation between art and the sacred conversation of True Love in this new work.
Simonelli’s flower paintings become the personification of the lovers in the garden. The first of the group vera conversazione d’amore, Pale Pink Lotus with Golden Bamboo painting representing the female in love, the second Malachite + Cinnabar flower painting representing the male in love and The Trinity representing True Love together. Combining hand-drawn + carved metal leaf (24 kt gold + aluminum leaf) within the many layers of beeswax. Simonelli constructs the petals of the flowers and interlace details by carving into the surface of the wax using carving tools. The paint is made at the same time as the painting --very low-tech using beeswax with traditional historical pigments from semi-precious stones: Chinese cinnabar and Arabian malachite in addition to cosmetics (lipstick + eye shadow), essential oils of lotus sandalwood + roses, and bee pollen. The result is a beautiful lush dreamy surface, bright colors, and sparkling wild flowers, which one can look into and perceive the depth and intricacies of the patterning.
Malachite + Cinnabar with Golden Bamboo , vera conversazione d’amore group 2014 by Maggie Simonelli
Encaustic, 24 karat gold leaf, Arabian malachite, Chinese cinnabar, bee pollen, lipstick kiss, eyeshadow, aluminum leaf, and sandalwood oil on birch
5 panels 16” x 60”
The Garden continues to inspire Simonelli’s work as she continues her series Eve’s Garden, the primordial flower garden in all its beauty and fragility, the idea being that planet Earth is the Garden of Eden.
The Trinity from Vera Conversazione d'Amore group 2014 by Maggie Simonelli
Encaustic, 24 karat gold leaf, red lac from India, cochineal, Rose d’Or, Arabian malachite, Chinese cinnabar, cosmetics: Chanel Passion lipstick and Utopia eyeshadow, pigments, casein, aluminum leaf, agate, essence of rose oil, lotus and sandalwood oil, bee pollen, and Amma water (Blessed water) on birch 3 panels: 16” x 36”
Exhibiting in New York, Boston, San Diego, Provincetown, Miami and the Hamptons, Maggie Simonelli has been written up in The Provincetown Banner, The Southampton Press, New York Magazine, East Hampton Star and other publications. A graduate of Connecticut College, she was introduced to art- making by collage artist Maureen McCabe and consequently became her life’s work. Between her education Simonelli assisted and studied with Richard Pousette-Dart (one of The Irascibles) an early Abstract –Expressionist. This informed her work as both abstract and spiritual practice. Through her graduate studies at Pratt Institute, Simonelli was introduced to the technique of encaustic and its great history in art while completing two Masters, first MFA in Painting and the second, MS, Art History in Museum Studies, Materials, Techniques, and Conservation. Finally and most importantly, Simonelli learned from the Master of Invention and Imagination, artist Manuel Pardo who unified creative intellectual thought and inventive process making up a separate artist technique for each of his series. Simonelli describes the time spent with and in apprentice to her mentor Manuel Pardo as the most influential period for her development as an artist. Maggie Simonelli lives in Manhattan and works out of her studio in the Garment District in New York City.
