February 2006

Optic Collisions

Museo ItaloAmericano, Building C

Silvia Poloto is, by her own description, an abstract painter. Her early works were large single-colored canvases in saturated hues to which she added enigmatic elements in contrasting shapes and colors.

In the new exhibit at the Museo Italo-Americano, Poloto has retained her intense palette, but has added the figurative to her work. In a series of "photo-based paintings" (her words), Poloto has created unforgettable images layered with meaning. Her "Unresolved" series consists of 14 large paintings wherein iconic images represent the full range of human emotion. These works show the artist's mastery of her medium in the sophisticated use of color blocks juxtaposed against realistic elements. They also pose as many questions as they answer.

In the work entitled "Lies" a shadowy Pinocchio-like figure hovers beside a worn, satin-clad wooden doll. The painting speaks of childhood innocence, memory, and sadness, yet the viewer is left to ponder the meaning behind the work's title. In "Promises" the two male figures appear to be a homage to same-sex marriage. Do they represent love and hope, or maybe disappointment?

In her abstract work, Poloto began with no "preconceived idea of what it's going to become" By contrast, the introduction of photo and collage elements into the pieces has changed the very nature by which the artist approaches her work. " Unlike the abstract works, where the idea comes as I paint, in the photo-based works, the idea comes first, then I figure out how I am going to represent it"

Poloto's "Pigs" series, also at the Museo, is an example of this approach. With pink plastic pigs standing in for human beings, the artist has created a comment on the human condition that is at one time comical and then tragic. Why is that little pink creature burying his head in a computer jack in "Isolation?" Is he a symbol for all those who hide from the world behind their laptops, sitting in Internet cafes surrounded by fellow human beings, yet completely cut off from them? Poloto's works bring such questions to mind.

Poloto is Brazilian-born of Italian heritage. She moved to the United States in 1992 with the intention of practicing engineering, but became an artist instead. Her work is in more than 40 institutional and corporate collections and more than 600 private collections throughout the world. "Optic Collisions: Paintings and Mixed Media Works" is at the Museo Italo Americano through March 12. See the Galleries section for more information, or visit www.museoitaloamer icano.org or www.poloto.com.



— Jovanne Reilly

Image: Artist Silvia Poloto