Nature has always been a source of inspiration for artists. It has been the object of imitation and at the same time it has served to express deep concepts of a religious, philosophical or conceptual nature. I am referring above all to the time of Romanticism, when art was seen, especially in Germany, as a substitute for religion. It was then that nature acquired prominence among many painters who made it the central object of their creation. Caspar David Friedrich is the most important example of this pantheistic current.
Marta Ballvé's work draws from this tradition, although fully inserted into modernity. In his current work he takes nature as a point of reference and offers us a message of hope after the difficult times we have experienced during confinement, a period in which we all felt nostalgia for nature. Indeed, Marta caught the secret message that nature transmitted to us during this period in which it vibrated more strongly than ever while human beings retreated indoors in a kind of introspective exercise that has left touched mentally. While the human being hid, nature showed itself in its fullness growing in abundance.
The message that Marta's work conveys is to "rethink" our attitude towards nature, from which we have much to learn. Nature does not need human beings to survive while we do need it as an indispensable complement to our lives. We take our resources from it and exploit it for our own benefit many times without respecting it. This melange of nature that we felt during the confinement has led to the current mass flight of people to the countryside once we have felt safer. Formally, his work oscillates between figuration and abstraction. Both currents dispute their presence in the fabric and create a very interesting pairing. Tree figures are quite present. Often the line of the horizon has a great protagonism recalling the emblematic painting of Friedrich Monjo by the sea . Its blues are of great beauty. It is a work that in some way tends to spirituality, invites reflection and above all conveys serenity to the viewer. His colors are meditative, they invite silence, and in his works we somehow understand that there is a claim to take more care of nature.
Literature has influenced it a lot, in the work of Marta Ballvé. Poems and texts accompany the works and help to understand their meaning. This is what happens in the small-format paintings behind which the literary text that inspired them is pasted. We are facing a contemplative and poetic painting. Art and poetry are intimately united in his work.
Also very interesting are his small sculptures that represent trees and that dialogue with the paintings, complementing each other and extending their discourse to the third dimension.
In the image: Marta Ballvé. The verticality of the trees . Acrylic on canvas. 100x82 cm
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