Renew your connection with the magic of the four elements through Maria Bernardino's print artwork, "Zodiac," winner of the Young Art Prize from CPS in 2019. In this collection of 36 pieces dedicated to this theme, Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and their respective Zodiac signs embody the symbolism of their associated colors. The vibrant red represents the crackling fire that fuels all passions and the intensity of life itself. The blue signifies water, the color that evokes imagination, the starting point of the grand journey of dreams, and the cradle of all living forms. The golden yellow represents the sun and the alchemy of a land whose destiny is to expand and resonate with all its creatures under the emblem of totality and the divine. The gray of the air, in its transparent atmosphere, is the source of great transformations, a metaphor for both small and great mysteries.

Maria Bernardino revives a tradition that spans centuries, infusing it with purification and the magic of her simultaneously visual 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 posits that the relative positions of celestial bodies provide information about personality, human relationships, and other personal and transpersonal spheres. It can be regarded as a divinatory practice when used as an oracle, but it can also serve as a tool for understanding human emotions, highlighting emotional aspects by comparing certain trends with individual personalities.

"Zodiac" was created during a journey of exploration into the elements that make up the horoscope: affinities (the 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 rising sign emerges, making the map precise). Straddling interpretative freedom and the legacy of a long tradition governed by mathematically precise elements, "Zodiac" is the result of a journey that aims to resemble the task of an astrologer—interpreting and intuitively and inspiringly setting the tone, playing with the field of possibilities existing within the astrological universe.

Maria Bernardino, Dec. 2021