The vibrant and striking canvases of Isabel Santta Cecilia convey resolute optimism and joy. A self-taught artist, Santta Cecilia has been strongly influenced by popular art from her native Brazil. Interested in an art that is accessible to all, she works with familiar forms, often employing geometric shapes alongside more free-flowing organic elements. Using acrylic paint and collage, she layers and juxtaposes these components of varying sizes, scales and textures; light and shadow highlight likenesses and differences, simultaneously drawing attention to multiple areas within each work. An array of brilliant, intense, and dazzling shades tie the individual elements together, producing compositions in which color reigns supreme. Through her work, Santta Cecilia combats monotony and predetermination, offering an alternative and fun perspective on what she describes as “the greatest of all the arts—the art of living.”
Isabel Santta Cecilia’s work has been exhibited in Rome, Lisbon and New York. She lives and works in Londrina in the state of Paraná, Brazil.