Naive artist Luciana Mariano describes women’s life

Luciana Mariano has taken part to the Naive Art Exhibition in Iittala for over six years and counting. She voices out many aspects of women’s life in her art. The following is her own words describing her artistic career, and her take on womanhood in Finland and abroad. You can read the Finnish translation here.

A mirror and a notebook

Speaking of my own art is a little like describing what I see in the mirror and, as a woman, we are rarely completely satisfied with what we see. I have carried artistic weirdness since my very early days. My passion was to create; I had an urge to paint but was never very interested about the outcomes. In fact, as a child, my mom would buy me notebooks all the time and they would quickly be filled with drawings, visual storytelling and uncontrollable fantasy that would overflow the pages.

Once the notebook was all used, I would move on to the next one, and the next one, without any attachment or hesitation. Happiness happens in the making for me, and a white page or canvas has always been way more interesting than the finished works.

50 years later and I continue the same practice: the inner talk needs to be expressed, and it happens when I paint, whatever I paint. What comes out is not important, doesn’t matter if it is nice or ugly, it just needs to be brought out, said, registered and set away, for my inner peace and relief.

My scenes are usually things I see, hear, feel or imagine, dreams, needs, doubts or provocations, conscious or not. They always hide a little intriguing open narrative, secret objects, messages, observations. They are soft political statements in disguise. They avoid conflict, while displaying gentle but fierce rhetoric. My art is feminine (and feminist) and wishes for interaction, coziness, solidarity and so much more. It is pregnancy, labor and birth of naïve ideas and ideals. It talks to everyone of any age but wishes to establish a connection with my fellow human, in search for meaning and unspoken magic.

March is my birthday and the month that celebrates women. Becoming a Finn was a choice that gave me the opportunity to experience being born again, reinventing myself and adapting to the second half of my journey. Choosing qualities and matching traits like the colors that will compose your next art. I wish to bring my Latin ancestry to the canvas, mixing it with the natural beauty and discreet grace I so admire in my fellow Finnish women, and hopefully become freer and stronger, like them.

Freer and stronger

Like my art, my experiences allow me to learn, enjoy and trust the making. Like art, I believe life is an open narrative and the outcomes are mere consequences of our choices. Thus, we should always choose the path and the elements that build the best stories along the way. Choice is key and a lifelong process where we learn to select the right crayons to the journey: Choosing love over pain. Self-criticism without tyranny. Acceptance despite the differences. Sorority, solidarity, mutual empowerment and respect for diversity.

In the end, we all have something to add, learn and teach in the interesting, mysterious and colorful art of life.

Text: Luciana Mariano

Main picture: Luciana Mariano, Tired mother, acrylics, 2023

Luciana Mariano, Suomalaiset teräskukat, acrylics, 2022