Luminous colors, interwoven with shimmering metallic pigments. May Carro Cabaleiro applies her self-mixed paints in multiple layers with broad, bristly brushes. The natural light reflected by her works is elemental to the artist for her feather-light compositions. The support material is deliberately as transparent as possible to allow the colors to shine.
For May Carro Cabaleiro, painting is a meditative process. With her works, she creates a silence that becomes visible. She describes silence as healing:
“Silence is when someone you love gently touches you. Silence is when words become superfluous and the heart understands what the mind cannot explain. Silence is also the quiet contemplation of a color. When it demands nothing, explains nothing, but simply is.”
Viewers are invited to pause before the works. The monochrome paintings do not demand interpretation, but contemplation. Organic forms become recognizable; the movement of the brush remains evident. For the artist, the genesis, the forming of the image, is essential; material and technique follow this process. The lightness in the luminous works possesses a self-assurance, a certainty that can only arise in absolute tranquility.
By applying metallic pigments, the artist aims to imbue her works with a healing effect. For her, not only the painting process itself is healing, but also the contemplation of artworks. Hailing from Galicia, a region known for its mystical and religious sites, spirituality plays an important role for her.
May Carro Cabaleiro’s work is a visual representation of lingering. A counter-design to the overstimulation of the contemporary world. She creates a space where colors are not information or stimuli. They are an experience, an invitation to meditation.
