Artist Angela Navarro Edits Chaos
Creating pathways of emotion
Words by Jessi Devenyns Photos by Eric Morales
Paintings should craft a conversation with a viewer; meaning is not derived from an artist dictating what someone should experience. For an abstract expressionist like Angela Navarro, this dialogue begins with titles.
Each of Angela’s works is identified by a meandering sentence that serves as an insight into the moment that inspired a tableau. However, it is through a combination of titles, painted canvases, and the viewers themselves that Angela’s art reaches its apex to convey the “experience of life and going through changes,” she explains. The titles are also simply fun.
“When the paintings are presented to people, they still want an explanation,” says Angela. “It has to be entertaining. It has to make you wonder. It has to send you places. I believe titles are a good way to transport people [to] places within the paintings because they give you a direction and then you are free to bring yourself into it.”
But these paintings are not only about entertaining a viewer. Angela pours her brimming emotions into each piece, and as she conducts a guided tour of her studio, she recounts her relationship with each painting. In some cases, her tone becomes melancholy, and, in others, she is brought to the verge of tears. In yet other moments, her buoyant tone indicates the ease of the moment that inspired a towering opus. What stands out amid the compositions though are her colors. Currently, pink hues are shining through.
“I don’t rationalize the use of color. The use of color comes directly from my emotions,” she explains. “That’s the reason why I think lately there’s so much pink on my paintings. It’s like a need for warmth: hugs and care and love.”
Warm emotion undoubtedly emits from her work. Using intention and crafted maps of pigment, Angela artfully draws eyes around her canvases only directing them to settle when they reach the heart of a piece and its story. Frequently, the tale that is told is a reimagination of the quotidian. She illuminates, “I paint what I see. Everything in here, I’ve seen it somewhere.” Should one spend the time looking, they will see it too. The rich, vibrant shapes that wander across her canvases energize the room and fill the space with an abstract wink to the world that sits just beyond her studio windows.
Fly Away with Me.
Angela will be exhibiting work painted specifically for the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport from October 2022 until March 2023.
Contact:
angelanavarroart.com
angelanavarroart@gmail.com
@angelanavarroart
916 Springdale Rd, Studio #226
