The magic of the four elements is renewed in Maria Bernardino's print "Zodiac," winner of the Young Art Prize from CPS in 2019. In the set of 36 pieces dedicated to this theme, Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and their respective Zodiac signs assume the symbolism of their associated colors. The red of crackling fire that fuels all passions and the intensity and brilliance of life itself, the blue of water, the quintessential color of the imagination, the starting point of the great journey of dreams, and the cradle of all living forms, the golden yellow, solar and alchemical of a earth whose destiny is to expand and make all its creatures vibrate in the light of a star that is emblematic of totality and the divine, the gray of the air that within its transparent atmosphere is the source of great mutations, a metaphor for the small and big mysteries.

The artist revives a tradition that dates back many centuries, which is reborn today in the refinement and magic of her simultaneously plastic and poetic signs.

Maria João Fernandes

International Association of Art Critics (AICA)

Artist's Statement:

According to the classical definition, Astrology is a pseudoscience whereby the relative positions of celestial bodies provide information about personality, human relationships, and other spheres, both personal and transpersonal. It can be considered a divinatory activity when used as an oracle, but it can also be used as a tool for understanding human emotions, highlighting emotional aspects by comparing certain tendencies with elements of each individual's personality.

Zodiac was created during a journey of discovery of the elements that make up the horoscope: affinities (tendencies of each sign), aspects (distances between the angles of each planet), planets (which coexist with the signs), houses (which divide the astrological map's sky once again), and the horizon line (from which the ascendant emerges, making the map precise). Between interpretive freedom and the inheritance of a long tradition governed by mathematically exact elements, Zodiac is the result of a journey that seeks to resemble the task of the astrologer - to interpret, set the tone intuitively and inspiredly, and play with the field of possibilities existing in the astrological universe.

Maria Bernardino, Dec. 2021