The Argentine painter settled in Ibiza, Nilda Ventura, is exhibiting a selection of paintings, t-shirts, and silk scarves at the Ses Casetes restaurant in Sant Mateu until August 31st.
In the field of painting, Ventura has chosen a dozen works in which the woman is the foundation of everything. They are in a figurative style and are made with acrylic on canvas, to which she has incorporated elements such as gold leaf or fabrics in the form of a collage.
Thus, in “Atardecer” (Sunset), she portrays a woman carrying food and water, walking barefoot on a path at sunset in a village in Africa. It is a routine activity for her, but the artist wants to “highlight the excellence of the everyday.” Meanwhile, in “Risas y sonrisas 1” (Laughs and Smiles 1), a work that is part of a series of three paintings highlighting the smile of a woman from the Daasanach ethnic group in Africa, Ventura wants to “celebrate the value of recycling with a collage made of drink caps.” In fact, according to the author, “this nomadic ethnicity collects what others don’t need, like caps, screws, or leathers, to make wigs that the whole family uses to distinguish themselves from other groups.”
There is also room for Fatou, a singer who defends girls’ rights against female genital mutilation by donating what she earns to this cause and who has been captured by Ventura “singing and in a fighting attitude towards life.” And for a Peruvian bus painted with a gesture of rebellion with the two fingers of one hand raised in a sign of victory in the work “Acción y reacción” (Action and Reaction). A work that, according to the Argentine, “represents the genes of the Maya with a background that is an allegory to their famous treasure but actually depicts the genes of the girl, belonging to a lost civilization that reigned at a moment in history.”
Regarding her creative process, Ventura explained to this newspaper that she researches things that catch her attention, “a laugh, some eyes, or something that communicates a certain feeling.” Then she develops it around a specific situation or moment, contributing part of her inner existence with things that happen in her life to create a character with a story.
T-shirts and silk scarves On the other hand, the exhibition includes polyester t-shirts and silk scarves on which the works have been printed in different sizes using a digital technique. “I always wanted to translate my work into something material that people who value a painting but can’t afford it can access, and that’s why I thought of silk scarves and t-shirts because it’s something that can be worn for a lifetime on our own bodies,” concluded the artist.
Her career Ventura began painting casually when visiting a friend at Orlando Herrera’s Atelier ten years ago. Since then, her painting has evolved “from the most basic” to focus on themes of justice, portraits of women, and ethnic painting from anywhere in the world, “beyond social status and creeds.” All with the idea of “empowering women through color.”
The first exhibition she participated in was UnArt, along with students of Orlando Herrera and Amanda Echevarría in 2015 in s’Alamera, Santa Eulària. Then, in the LunArt nocturnal exhibition in Santa Gertrudis and in the exhibition of painters and craftsmen of Paseo de Talamanca at the Festes de Sant Joan in 2016. After that, she exhibited at the cultural center of the Santa Eulària Town Hall, the Hotel Ocean Drive, Sa Residència, several collective exhibitions of AMAE, Expressarte in Jesús, and during 2021 at the Cultural Center of this town.