The strokes of the artist Celina Coelho are perceived as intense, persistent and sharp. She works with brushes and spatulas, much like a chisel and hammer, to deliver the architecture of her works. We interviewed her in Buenos Aires in the studio she shares with her husband Henrique Liberal Cardoso; also an artist. With a smile she invited us to a tour of her creative evolution.

We are facing her most endearing work, which looks splendid in the main space of the studio. Coelho describes the affection that links her to this piece, and the start of her creative process is evident in successive and expressive layers and brush, oil and spatula strokes. The culmination resembles a rhythmic, lilting song— maybe closer to blues than rock and roll—which gently permeates the environment.

Her husband is a noted scholar and expert on the history of international and local rock and roll. The rock emanates from the Uriburu Street studio, as if it were just about to break loose in the vehemence of Elvis Presley’s Blue Suede Shoes.

The artist and her work



Pictorial milestones

We stop now in front of another of her creative milestones. In the canvas, yellow and orange tones glow, framing and highlighting the intense depth of the varying shades of blues. Coelho says that this work belongs to a later stage in her evolution as an artist.

It may represent a kind of transition between the first piece where the reds and yellows dominated, and the new stage in which the colors seem to fight with each other to prevail.

Now we are in front of one of her latest creations and the artist explains her current desire to accentuate and multiply the colors by integrating them into a series of strokes— some are tighter, others thicker and loaded with paint. The result has the intensity of a tidal wave crashing over coastal rocks.

Centro Cultural Borges

Coelho summarizes her art, which will be displayed at the Borges Cultural Center in Buenos Aires in August. “My paintings are an intense combination of particles invaded by color. Some are geometric and interposed in different ranges, creating lights, and spontaneous, fluid movements. Once the forms are built, they multiply again and again. In my work, I seek to project spaces that create visual impact through color.” ■