I, Corina Dimitriu, born in 1977 in Iasi and currently based in Bucharest, am a contemporary figurative oil painter. My work reflects my sentiments and life experiences, using color and brushwork to convey my emotions, loves, and personal challenges. Through painting, I explore different subjects that are deeply personal and aligned with my beliefs.

My primary medium is oil painting, though I often incorporate a variety of materials, including watercolors, pastels, charcoal, ink, and acrylics. My technique blends abstract strokes with figurative subjects, creating a dynamic interplay between form and expression. This combination of media and methods, the use of joyful colors, particularly yellows, reds, emerald greens, and blues, contributes to my individual artistic approach.

I create art as a necessary outlet for expression, driven by the need to paint in order to maintain balance and avoid feelings of depression. Over the past decade, this urge to create has become more intense, as I use painting to express emotions, reactions, and personal states of mind. My work reflects both the simplicity of human needs—such as love, family, and friendship—and deeper themes of self-identity, human connection, and the cyclical nature of life.

My work is centered around people and the human condition, whether exploring myself or others. The subjects of my art have evolved over time, beginning with self-portraits that explore personal identity. I then reinterpreted an artwork, focusing on the theme of hunting trophies—fashionable in different times—using various artistic approaches. My current work revolves around the value of rest, sleep, and well-being within the context of family, exploring the importance of these elements in our lives and their connection to human relationships.

In my practice, I depict the everyday, being also interested in the mythological and philosophical aspects of my theme. While oil painting may be seen as less contemporary, I believe it remains a vital medium that continues to resonate with humanity. My work often involves revisiting the same subjects in various ways, experimenting with composition, line, tone, and color to uncover new perspectives.

My artistic journey began before my academic studies, during which I experimented with color and palette knives, as well as charcoal drawings of people and nature. In 2020, I began my formal education, focusing primarily on the study of nature and artistic anatomy. My graduation work consisted of self-portraits, initially rendered in brown tones, which later evolved into more colorful portraits using reds, greens, and yellows. Following this, I reinterpreted a piece by Frans Snijders, exploring various artistic approaches to express the same subject and distill the essence of the line. My current project centers on themes of rest, sleep, and family, where I explore not only vibrant color palettes dominated by yellows, reds, and greens, but also the lines and traces left on the canvas that depict people, using materials like charcoal and other mediums to further explore these connections.

I typically work in series, producing multiple pieces centered around the same subject. My self-portraits, for example, were created over the span of three months, resulting in more than 60 portraits, all using a specific canvas size. The reinterpretation of hunting trophies focused on the same subject but explored various styles, mediums, and canvas dimensions. My most recent project continues to explore the same central theme, with new works that feature different dimensions and compositions of the subject matter. One constant throughout my career has been sketching people around me—whether in the metro, train, airports, or at work—capturing the everyday moments of human interaction and presence.

I have created individual works driven by the need to capture the beauty I observe. These pieces, often featuring floral themes, were executed in oil painting or watercolor to reflect the natural beauty around me. They are part of my studies of nature, created spontaneously in response to my surroundings.

My work reflects a deep intellectual interest in the study of color, line, and composition. Alongside exploring art history and painting techniques, I am particularly fascinated by how different artists have approached the same subjects across time. By examining works created in various periods, I study the diverse solutions painters offer to similar themes. During my studies, I copied Paul Klee’s notebooks to learn from his writings and insights. I am driven to understand how artists like Cy Twombly, Willem de Kooning, Egon Schiele, Pierre Bonnard, Edvard Munch, Lucian Freud, Tracey Emin, Cecily Brown, Frans Snijders, and Diego Velázquez have resolved the elements of painting, mastering the surface and conveying their messages.