Renew your connection with the magic of the four elements through Maria Bernardino's print artwork "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 embody the symbolism of their associated colors. The vibrant red represents the crackling fire that fuels all passions and the intensity and radiance of life itself. The blue symbolizes 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 represents the sun and the alchemical nature of the earth, destined to expand and resonate with all its creatures under the emblem of totality and the divine. The gray of the air, within its transparent atmosphere, is the source of great transformations, a metaphor for both small and grand mysteries.

Maria Bernardino brings new life to a centuries-old tradition, infusing it with purity and the magic of her simultaneously visual and poetic signs.

Maria João Fernandes

International Association of Art Critics (AICA)

Artist 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 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 throughout a journey of discovery of 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 again), and the horizon line (from which the ascendant emerges, making the map precise). Between interpretative freedom and the heritage of a long tradition governed by mathematically exact elements, Zodiac is the result of a journey that seeks to resemble the task of an astrologer—interpreting, intuitively and inspired, playing with the range of possibilities existing in the astrological universe.

Maria Bernardino, Dec. 2021