Ramona Pavilionis' Art Camps

Given that my inspiration comes from my subconscious and spontaneous states of mind, I use this inspiration as a springboard to form a new level of awareness and creativity. It is difficult to explain the process of my art making.  The first words that come to mind are subconscious and cerebral.

Initially I enter into a glazed over meditative state of mind whereby the conscious action of placing colour on what usually starts off as a white surface, that being canvas or paper becomes the catalyst that induces the process. The chemistry of mixing colour has been etched in my memory, as I am now able to mix colours as freely as creating a traditional food recipe without using a cookbook. I have no fear of colour and enjoy experimenting with colour spontaneously to create a dynamic whereby colours seem to play with one another. Once the first colour is applied then the creative flow takes hold of me and I feel totally in my element.

My thoughts are transformed into colours that become forms. They are processed into either abstract or representational shapes that develop by painting them according to the rules of balance or the Golden Rule. Marvels of light and surrounding colour impress upon me creating a sense of almost a surreal connectivity. In a flash, the luminosity felt at the time influences my state of mind. My intention is to reveal underlying encrypted messages from my subconscious by reconnecting to moments of time through my creativity.  In this process paint is layered on to a canvas and some of it is gently scraped away as an archeologist does to reveal glazed images underneath of faded symbols, mysterious beings, the sublime or the unknown. Several of my representations consist of repeated images of birds, eyes, masks, trees and elongated shapes, either being of a human, surreal, spiritual or of a mythological nature. Architectural details, textures, images and colours depict a sense of time, place and space in my paintings.  Some of my consistent themes and images are rendered in bright colours, mainly the primaries, and on the other hand very dark portraying a dreamy and melodramatic feeling.

My inspiration percolates from memory of my life as an art student in Italy and my travels to Lithuania, Japan and other parts of the world. I interpret how incidents surrounding my personal life affect my contemporary painting and the development of my own personal mythology.  Those poignant memories of my life and impressions of my travels are recalled in my paintings.