Dominant reds, yellows and oranges lend a searing heat and atmosphere to Marcela Krause Porter’s moody figurative and abstract works. Most of her paintings feature one figure – generally a female nude – against spectacularly tactile, weathered backdrops marked with, in some cases, refreshing splashes of blue or green. Occasionally, entire compositions are given over to flowing, overlapping hues, with fiery ochre shades running across planes fractured by blinding lights peeking through mysteriously from underneath.
Set against these incredibly vibrant and gripping colors, the Chilean artist’s bodies and objects gain otherworldly airs, their soft colors and fleshy textures standing in sharp contrast to the pure heat and shimmer surrounding them. Krause Porter’s bold hues are exciting and seductive, but also, especially when they surround fragile human frames, dangerous and threatening, even overbearing. Many of her paintings dramatize an essential paradox of life: the world, in all its unexpected and striking beauty, entices us to action despite our inherent frailties, conveyed so eloquently in these slumped, poised bodies.
The source of my inspiration is life itself, which for me is a constant process of learning and evolution. I am always exploring and experimenting with several techniques and materials, and the use of textures and colors, in my continuing attempt to transmit the different emotions from the inner states of being, each expressed in its own way. Each work entails a clear intention, and contains within it a message or concept which I wish to communicate to my audience. This always requires a specific sort of energy, which may have different sources depending on the work itself.
