Renewed magic of the four elements can be seen in Maria Bernardino's print "Zodiac," winner of the Young Art Prize by CPS in 2019. In this collection of 36 pieces dedicated to this theme, Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and their respective Zodiac signs assume the symbolism of the colors associated with them. The red of the crackling fire that fuels all passions and the intensity and brilliance of life itself, the blue of water, the quintessential color of the imaginary, 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 celestial body that is the emblem of totality and the divine, and the gray of the air which, within its transparent atmosphere, is the source of great mutations, a metaphor for the small and great mysteries.

The artist renews a tradition that dates back many centuries and is now reborn 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 that holds that the relative positions of celestial bodies provide information about personality, human relationships, and other personal and transpersonal spheres. It can be considered a divinatory activity when used as an oracle, but it can also be used as a tool to understand human emotions, pointing out 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 (that coexist with the signs), houses (that divide the sky of the astrological chart again), and the horizon line (from which the ascendant emerges, making the chart 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 be similar to the task of an astrologer - interpreting, setting the tone intuitively and inspired, playing with the field of possibilities that exist in the astrological universe.

Maria Bernardino, Dec. 2021