Romanian-born Manuela Moldovan lives and works from her home studio in Toronto. She is a self-taught mixed media collage artist and an elected member of the Colour and Form Society. Educated and practicing as a pharmacist contributed to her genuine creativity, which has grown over time. She returned to a full-time art practice in 2017.
Over the years, her artwork became full of colour, with high texture and depth, a true homage to life and love. The paintings depict her search for a flourishing and prosperous life, dynamism, and movement, inspiring the viewer.
"For me, art has been a passion since a very young age. I like the freedom to work with colours, imagine, seek, and connect with nature. My inspiration comes from the colour and the depth of a forest or the fragility and grace of flowers. Travelling around the world has allowed me to ignite my passion for photography. Slowly, my thinking and creativity process grew up. I started to insert in my acrylic or cold wax/oil paintings small areas cut from my photographs. It became an exciting process because any detail of my surroundings could be a source of inspiration. A decayed wall of a building, the natural design or shape of a gemstone or granite piece, or mushroom growth on a trunk tree, photos taken sometimes in the middle of nowhere, are present in my floral, forest fantasies or landscapes. In my current practice, I use a variety of materials, such as molding paste, acrylic, oil, cold wax, Japanese paper, prints of my pictures or artworks, and different textiles.
I adore building images and lavish layers, depth, and texture. Working with a variety of materials helps me to dig into the complexity of our surroundings, and to revive the energy and the density of the world as seen by myself. My artworks are a voyage in search of a flourishing and "green" life, uplifting and warming up the human soul. It explores concepts of verticality, unity, fragility, strength, and rooting."
Her artworks are juried in exhibitions organized by the Paula White Diamond Gallery, Canadian Society of Artists, Colour and Form Society, Markham Group of Artists, The Marketer magazine, Art Gallery Ring, and Oakville Artworks. During her artistic years, she got influenced by Romanian painters, her art teachers in school, local Canadian artists, and Vincent van Gogh, Matisse, and Klimt's stunning work.
