8 Questions with Cristina Maia Caetano

Cristina Maia Caetano is Portuguese, born in Angola, lived in Mozambique for some years (both old Portuguese colonies in Africa), and presently lives in Portugal between Aveiro and Pinhel. She is a writer, a plastic artist, an illustrator and a poet. Until 2010, she used Cristina Maia Caetano as artist name and examples of that are her book “To Know the Theater in Mozambique” and chronicles “See and Feel” in newspapers of Abrantes Journal; Daily Journal of Aveiro; Pinhel Falcon; Online Root and FM Radio Aveiro. Cristina is currently a chronicler at Rádio Mondego FM.

Cristina loves writing, and her favorite subjects are child's imagination and human emotions. Fairy tales, poetry, children's stories, and novels appear in her work. Painting and Illustration emerge naturally from her writing. Her oil paintings were often born from poems that she created and to which she gave a breath of self-existence. With her collection Fadinha Lotus (Little Fairy Lotus collection), Cristina makes her presentations in schools with music and puppets, which represent the characters she created. She has edited in Portugal two volumes (The Search and The Master) of her childhood collection and trademark" Fadinha Lótus" (Little Lotus Fairy) written and illustrated by her with the use of mixed techniques.

Since 2009 Cristina participates in poetic events, newspapers of poetry, and in Seventeen books of the poetic anthology.

Cristina's vocation is sensitive and lives in her spirit, intending to spread spirituality and sensitize the world for the light and love. Her work's main themes and focus consist of the invisibility of what is beyond human vision, in constant spiritual growth, conscious of the union of everything and everyone. For this, Cristina turns to the figurative with analysis and preferential study of the human being, landscapes, symbologies, and nature with special focus on flowers, plants, animals, and birds. She is always keeping in mind the meaning of "objects" in the study allied to what she intends to convey. Cristina transforms "what she sees," in what she "feels” with the eyes of her inner self. To these "ingredients," she mixes the abstract with the colors and their respective messages, in a harmonious color complement. In all Cristina's work, she always gives a personal and unique stamp to every painting. She intends to stand out from the visible reality, allow the entrance of the dream, and realize ideas and the disclosure and construction of a better new world.

For Cristina, art is life, light, vibration, harmony, and love. Art is EVERYTHING!

cristina-maya-caetano.com

What kind of education or training helped you develop your skillset?

I think it was a set of situations that life itself put me in, forcing me to discover my interior and, with it, my great love for art that I did not know. My initial training consists of a Graduation in Regional and Urban Planning, Post-Graduation in European and Communitarian Studies, and; Masters Degree in African Studies. I also had a variety of professional experiences, which marked me by the inner emptiness that left me. In 2000, due to a complicated process of illness and pain, I started to discover and understand the art that was inside me. As a result, I changed my profession and began to carry out various training and workshops in the arts, such as Monitor of Decorative Arts; Illustration; Creative Writing; Art History; Storytellers; Theater; Interior & Garden Decorating.

How would you define yourself as an artist?

I define myself as an artist with a sensitive vocation that dwells in my spirit, where equality, justice, the freedom of the difference of moving me. It drives me to creation, free of chains, and any comparisons. It moves me the need to Shout to the world: "Everything can be better. It is possible to live in harmony and love. It is possible to believe, to have faith, and to accept. It is possible to forgive and realize that after all, "We are all One".

What inspires you to work?

What inspires me is being able to transform "what I see", into what I "feel" with the eyes of my inner self is the "ingredients." I mix the abstract with the colors and their respective messages, in a harmonious color complement to allow the entrance of the dream, of the realization of ideas and the disclosure and construction of a better new world. For this, I turn to the figurative with analysis and preferential study of the human being, landscapes, symbologies and to nature with particular focus on flowers, plants, animals and birds, always keeping in mind the meaning of the "objects" in study allied to what I intend to convey.

The main themes and focus of your work consist of the invisibility of what is beyond human vision, in constant spiritual growth. How does art help you see and believe in the unseen and transform it into an artwork?

I do not see with the eyes of the body, but I feel and believe with my soul, the existence of something greater than we can imagine. When I concentrate, my initial idea takes shape, as if it were guided by "delicate threads", carried by magical clouds with a voice imperceptible to human ears. That tells me a story, chapter by chapter and, without haste.

The invisible becomes visible to the brush, and the message appears as if to say "I exist".

Please tell our readers about your creative process.

My creative process begins inside my heart and my soul. Having the concrete idea of what I'm going to do is, without doubt, the first step linked to deep introspection. After the idea arises in the silence of my being, there follows a lengthy process in the construction of the evolution thereof, requiring studies, sketches, research, field trips, always persisting in the appropriate response for the right consistency of what I intend to convey. I often feel the need to readjust and reset. The "painting" phase only happens when I know what I'm going to do and how I'm going to do it. Then, during the painting realization, several steps are followed: screen preparation, idea sketch, placement of colors for levels consisting of several layers followed by intercalary drying processes, and maturation of painting. All my creative process arises in isolation in my "atelier" accompanied by calm music and soft incense

What experience of your life would you say that is reflected in your works of art.

I think it was my father's death that forced me to change my life by lovingly taking care of my mother. And in this context, my painting "Rainbow of the Soul" marks a turning point in my life and my art. It is my heartfelt tribute to my father, who departed unexpectedly in 2015. It's my way of saying:" I LOVE YOU Father forever". I imagine him like a shining star in the sky, embracing me from the clouds, guiding me in the darkness of the coldest nights. And I smile with him now lucidity and understanding of humanity freed from human standards. I imagine him happy running in a rainbow that has become a bridge. He carries with him a blue scarf, transformed into a flag symbolizing peaceful communication. It's my father, free.

"Rainbow of the Soul" also marks a turning point in my painting. The suffering of this event almost killed my inspiration, but it made my painting more intense and profound. The use of transparencies appeared as an opening of my soul to "other invisible worlds" and I finally assumed my spirituality.

What other interests do you have outside of art?

Travel and discover new places and countries with new cultures and knowledge. To read a good book in a quiet corner, stroll in nature, and socialize with friends. Tell stories to the children and make the respective scenarios. I also love to write and illustrate what I write.

What else are you working on at the moment? Next projects?

Right now I'm doing a painting to participate in a competition in Italy. Other plans at the moment are related to the elaboration of projects, stories, and illustrations for children.