To explain my process of painting: a work takes shape in my imagination. My consciousness perceives it as a reality before it exists physically. By the act of creation, the work comes into reality and can be seen / perceived by other people besides me. My consciousness is like a portal, from where my art comes through and enter into reality. My art talks about inner life, about the spiritual reality. In fact, art is the place where reality and spirit intertwine in order to create new realities.
There is a scientific experiment that I think explains my artistic approach: To several human subjects under hypnosis, have been suggested that an object (a pen, a brush, etc ...) is very hot (not actually being hot). When they woke up from the trance and touch the object, and felt burning sensation, like it was very hot(but actually wasn't). It was all in their minds. What is interesting is that the subjects are left with burns on their hands(from some non-hot items). This shows that our conscience actually creates the reality! So I create realities that initially existed only in my consciousness.
What is the role of technique in your practice? In particular are there any constraints or rules that you follow when creating?
I don't believe in rules and constraints. But there are some steps required to complete a work.
The idea is important. But whatever idea, in order to be communicated properly, needs transposition into the right materials, a proper vessel for the idea. And this is as important as the idea. To give an example, a human being is an idea (his soul or consciousness, invisible to the eye) that can exist and communicate in the physical world only through the physical body. And the physical body is in a way a reflection of the spirit, of the idea behind. And so, the definition of existence in this world can be a perfect blend of object and concept.
The first step, for me, is to imagine the future work. I "visualize" it in my mind. Actually, I have a white wall in my studio, preserved for this purpose, to imagine the shape of the future work. I stare at this white wall, and in my head the idea of the future work is taking shape.
After I find the idea, then I prepare the support for the painting. Because I want to be honest with myself, and I do not like recipes that work as shortcuts, I prepare myself the support for the painting. Even if it is a hard work, mostly carpentry (wood cutting, wood joining, polished...) and a little atypical for a painter. But my works have strange and diverse forms, and only I know the solution, in order to reach these forms.
I'm always taking care, that the painting will be in harmony with the form. Between these two there is a communication as it is between spirit and body.
Even that there is almost no perspective in my paintings(it is often flat, decorative, as in Byzantine painting), the difference between the wall on which the works are mounted (the background) and the thickness of the wood, creates depth, and so, through the depth of the object, another kind of perspective is created. And so the shape and its concept work together.
How do you see the relationship between emotional and intellectual perception of your work? In particular, how much do you consider the immersive nature of the viewing experience?
Language it is the basic tool of communication among humans. Words are human conventions, and the ability necessary to communicate at a deep level, using vocabulary, is narrow. But what the artist is trying to communicate is much deeper and more complex, and words are not enough for this task. And so, this creates a need for music. And also, a need for visual arts. Art says things that words just can't say. Art it's a way to look inside the deepest parts of your soul, and to communicate something meaningful, beyond social conventions. Art talks about essential human things.
Even if people have different identities and come from different spaces, all humanity is connected to the same fears and hopes. Anguish in the face of death, and obedience to the unchangeable destiny and the fragility of hope. So art must be accessible to any human being, because it communicates something profoundly human.
Art is an experience. No matter how I try to tell a person, about a beautiful painting, a melody or a movie, as long as he does not get in touch with that artwork, will not understand anything. You have to be in direct contact with a piece of art in order to truly perceive it.
Personally, I don't like the descriptions in an exhibition. I think art should be an immediate experience. There are people who come to me at an exhibition and they ask me "but what does this work mean?" How can I answer to that? Only that "is something very profound and impossible to explain in words" ....
Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Matei. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
At this moment I am the curator of several exhibition projects in Bucharest and Piatra Neamt. And that takes some amount of my personal time, takes away from my studio time, but I do it anyway.
In the studio, I started a new series of works that are different from the past. But it is more an organic , natural evolution. I have always believed that as an artist, you have to always evolve, to find resources inside yourself to grow. But my art It is always about this relation, content-form, and how you can communicate, playing with various structures. I think the new project, when it will be shown, will surprise many people ...