Much of my art combines images, conversations, feelings, memories into visual narratives that simultaneously explore ideas of the familiar and the mysterious. While my paintings may appear surreal, I am not simply looking to relate dream and reality, but rather to develop my imagery into experiences that are more fundamental and universal, and that others can relate to. Over the past ten years, my painting has involved reconnecting to childhood, being able to see the world with nothing but curiosity and wonder. My images begin as unpredictable and unstable, almost random, but at a certain point, messages and emotions begin to surface, what I see as connections between past and present. The story open as I begin each work, and progressively matures over time. A new eye, a different light, a feeling, an image, a conversation can change everything. I enjoy the exchange between what I bring to my paintings and what the viewer brings from their own experience. I want to create surprises for them to discover and possibilities for them to explore. www.cristinamarianart.com