Zodiac: The Magic of the Four Elements is renewed in Maria Bernardino's print artwork, winner of the Young Art Prize from CPS in 2019. In this collection of 36 pieces dedicated to the theme, Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and their respective zodiac signs assume the symbolism of their associated colors. The fiery red, fueling all passions and the intensity and radiance of life itself; the blue of water, the quintessential color of imagination, the starting point of the great journey of dreams and the cradle of all living forms; the golden yellow, solar and alchemical, representing a land whose destiny is to expand and make all its creatures vibrate in the light of a celestial body that is a symbol of totality and the divine; and the gray of the air, which within its transparent atmosphere is the source of great transformations and a metaphor for both the small and the great mysteries.

The artist revitalizes a tradition that spans many centuries, now reborn in the refinement and 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 provides information about personality, human relationships, and other personal and transpersonal spheres based on the relative positions of celestial bodies. 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, 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 exist in parallel with the signs), houses (which 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 heritage 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