Marina Grau
@magraua
Multidisciplinary artist based in Cádiz (Andalusia, Spain). Her career began with a painting based on stain and colour, landscape and portrait, always with a very introspective approach.
Always interested in the body as an expressive tool, she studied performance and developed a discourse closely linked to self-knowledge and her female identity. We had the opportunity to be part of one of her latest performances at the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Cádiz (ECCO) in an event organised by Pelicornio Perceptual. In her work, Marina analyses female biological elements and processes through fabric and thread and offers, as a result, a sculptural piece, illustrating her interest in this doctrine.
Marina Grauis also Marinee Alee, a project of small and delicate bathers materialised in three dimensions that channel their direct connection with the sea.
The artist is currently involved in the development of narrative discourses on Upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic matrifocal communities, which based their organisation on the principles of cooperation and self-regulation.
From this research position, Marina participates in a performative project based on a mythological story that has strong references to early feminism and empowerment in Classical Greece.
How would you describe your art?
Art is for me a source of expression and impression. I generally seek simplicity to keep what is essential, what has a symbolic value in itself. I shape ideas or feelings that underlie in my mind: images, words, materials, gestures... I also build narratives from internal processes that I’m going through. Art helps me to channel, visualise myself and work on self-knowledge.
What does inspire you?
What inspires me the most is the Archaic artistic expressions of Europe and Asia: Minoan frescoes, Japanese lithographs, medieval manuscript illustrations, the ancient Indian and Indonesian art…
I'm interested in the Cosmological representations of different civilisations because their visuals are presented as a discursive language linked to beliefs and which, in turn, create narratives. All this inspiration allows me to expand my symbolic imaginary to tell and build my discourse.
What is being a woman for you?
Through my last performance, "Like a sponge", I deeply connected with the signification of being a woman, understanding it as an intergenerational, latent, warm and welcoming thread.
We have to make clear that there is a lack of female references throughout history and that's why we inevitably have a shared emptiness and grief. Making women's work visible, therefore, becomes a common triumph and a restoration of our own history.
What do you celebrate about being a woman?
I celebrate the energy of our gatherings, the dialogue, the mutual help and the metaphorical mirror.
How do you feel about being a woman in the art industry?
I feel that an increasing number of women are leading interesting projects, and that makes them value, encourage and trust in others' growth. Implicitly, we are opening up new discourses where a change to openness and awareness is needed and demanded.
Photos by Mercedes Polo Portillo ©
