Regina Dantas — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

May 5

May 5 Regina Dantas

Biography

Visual artist. She studied at the Guignard School of Visual Art, Belo Horizonte, 1983 - 1986. In the last few years, Dantas has held workshops at the Parque Lage School of Visual Arts, in Rio. In 2017, she goes to Florence and attends Francesca Vannini's art studio. Since 2016, the artist has taken part in many exhibitions in Brazil and abroad. The International Contemporary Art Exhibition (M.A.D.S. Gallery, Milan, 2020), The 8th Mini Print Kazanlak (Kazanlak, Bulgaria, 2020), Arte Tocada e Arte que Toca (Galeria Geraldes Silva, Porto, 2019), The 39th Mini Print Internacional de Cadaqués (Barcelona, 2019), Mini Impresión de Entre Ríos (Galeria Luis Bourbard, Argentina, 2018), The 4th ‘Enter into Art’ International Installations (Königswinter, Germany, 2018) and the EAV Group Show (The Parque Lage School of Visual Arts, Rio, 2018) ― among others. From 1987 to 2015, Dantas was the set designer for Globo TV Network’s shows and soap operas. Born in Belo Horizonte, Regina Dantas lives and works in Rio de Janeiro.

Artist Statement

With an emphasis on the two-dimensionality of the paper, the basic premise is to tension factual masses and dimmish membranes, shifting the perception of the planar (or mental) regime to its sensorial (or corporeal) grounds - hence different degrees of fullness in geometry. Her visual structures are launched into a vacuum like events "into”space or “with”space, leading to powerful effects of scale. The opacity of the color gives more sculptural weight to certain orbits, while the dilution of paint sensualizes otherwise in the midst of a rigorous abstract environment, polarising visible flattening and almost undetectable layers. The Inocula and Rodaluz Series have the circle as an axial way of demarcating territories of clear or somber luminosity. Tonal variations add a disputed game of ecliptic or galactic scores.

What first prompted you to think of becoming an artist?

I have the soul of an artist. I grew up in a family of photographers, architects, and visual artists and always knew my profession would be within the world of art.

What kind of an artist do you ultimately see yourself?

I’m an artist who seeks to see the musical language of the soul. My art portrays (or depicts) repetition with nuanced differences; just like life—things don’t always turn out the way we’d like them to, but the impulse of life is the capacity for renewal.

What are you hoping to communicate to the viewer through your work?

I try not to make theories about my work. The artist’s contribution is his originality and authorship. I enter my studio emotionally free and leave the sensations and subjectivity for the viewer and thus free my art to affect each person individually.

Can you explain the process of creating your work?

After a career as set designer at the Brazilian company TV Globo, where my time was not my own, I began a project: I photographed details of organic forms not usually perceived in day-to-day life. Thus began a process of deconstructing the images for my future silkscreen printing. Always conscious of shapes, creating and breaking asymmetrical geometries, and finding the voids in the recesses, my stencil based serigraphy explores differentiated repetition while reserving space for surprises, turning each print into a monotype.

What is your favourite part of the creative process?

My favorite part of the process is the moment of printing, when I experience the surprise of the shapes, the stains, the tonal variations. A new color, a
new shape emerges! The experimentation.

Can you give us an insight into current projects and inspiration, or what we can look forward to from you in the near future?

My production is focused on the circle, a symbol of eternity, without beginning or end. I use many asymmetrical mandalas, intensely graphic membranes that reveal vibrant waves of spiritual energy through color and form. Today I focus on circles. Who knows what will catch my eye in the future?

Instagram reginadantas_art