In Talk with Artist Bárbara Moura about the art of painting and her escapism

The female protagonists of your paintings are embedded in a sphere full of symbolism that we the viewers are familiar with but it seems they are detached from their surroundings. Does it express a current need for escapism that exists outside of our technocratic world?

Bárbara Moura: „I think my protagonists are somehow still encapsulating this sense of loneliness and confinement. I think they are judgmental because they are not impressed with what they have seen lately and have had enough, and are wishing to progress or escape into a better tomorrow. I am a chronic overthinker, and I see a lot of that in them too.”

During the Covid lockdowns, you've started to draw one picture a day. Looking through the artworks now, is there a common theme or a sentiment that you recognize?

Bárbara Moura: „I think for these series the sentiment is maybe boredom?! But also a bit of sassiness, maybe a consequence of feeling locked up... I didn't know how to pass the time anymore and I was not going to the studio, so I decided to try out drawing with oil pastels, a medium I truly didn't think it was for me, and decided to dress in colourful clothes I am not seen wearing that has been forever abandoned in my wardrobe and started 'modeling for myself'. I got really impressed with the results I had with the oil pastels, so I kept going and the work grew and grew.”

Speaking of this certain and foremost unique era: What was special about it and how did you evolve through it as an artist?

Bárbara Moura: „I think 2020 was a milestone for me. It's kind of strange to admit that since it was a time of so much suffering and fear worldwide, but I can really understand how times of great pain and struggle bring major breakthroughs. Being a very anxious person, I have always found excuses and ways to be 'outside' rather than 'inside'. I sought to be seen and liked and chased after approval from external sources and when I was forced to 'stay in' with myself, it was really hard at first, but slowly as I poured into work, for the first-time things really started transforming and I started falling in love with my work and through it slowly with myself.”

What kind of surroundings is best for you to work on your paintings?

Bárbara Moura: „I found out that the best environment for me to work is alone and mostly in silence if I really need to focus. I got very used to working at home and having a totally safe and controlled space, somehow it seems to help the inner chaos. I think painting is truly a lonely job and you have got to come to terms with it sooner or later.”

Nicole Adler's gallery and salon in Vienna has quite a unique approach to showing only female artists. Do you see a need for more spaces like hers?

Bárbara Moura: „Yes absolutely! Things seem to be changing but at a very slow rate, and I think Nicole's approach is very important in Vienna. I think Salons are and have been throughout history truly important places for the progress of artistic practices, especially outside what was seen as conventional, way more open-minded in what they were showing and which promoted rich intellectual discourse, and brought artists together with higher levels of society and helped them find patrons and collectors, places for outsider artists that often really plotted the vanguard. Most importantly they were places very often hosted and promoted by women because they were the only places where they could express and exchange their opinions. I think Nicole has an extreme sensitivity not just for art but also for socio-political issues, and most of all what I find special is that I think Nicole (apart from being an amazing host) really cares, not just about aesthetics but also about the relevance and context behind each artist's work.”