Modern Love by Barbara Kitallides

Modern Love 7 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 600 x 600mm

Modern Love 8 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 760 x 1000mm

Modern Love 15 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 760 x 1000mm

Modern Love 17 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 760 x 1000mm

Melbourne-based artist Barbara Kitallides was born in Paphos, Cyprus (which is where she picked up her ridiculously good looks!). Barbara studied Visual Communication, Bachelor of Design at Melbourne’s Monash University. Between 1997 – 2014, she travelled to Europe and America, painting and working in Italy, Greece, London and Cyprus. Her passion and rise into the Contemporary Art world moved forward in the recent years, resulting in a series of successful solo and group shows, private and corporate commissions.

Today we take a look at Barbara’s latest series titled Modern Love, which presents a slight departure from her usually fluid paintings into a more graphical territory. And we like it. We had a quick chat to her about this collection – read on for a little insight into this series and her process.

Modern Love 12 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 1200 x 1500mm

Modern Love 3 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 1016 x 1016mm

Modern Love 11 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 1200 x 1500mm

+ What was your inspiration for Modern Love?

‘Modern Love’ is an exploration of life and place in the Modern world. How we interact with our internal and external environment. In this series my aim is to bring back balance within and the chaos around us. On the one hand the painting/s seek balance and harmony, while also challenging the viewer between the loose brush strokes and the controlled band/lines. The marble and concrete application suggests a state of emotion in times of love: The marble – beautiful, natural, rippled love, passion of the flesh. The concrete – hard, palpable, solid, real. There is a romance within the murky jungle on the canvas. Finding beauty in things that are not ‘pretty’ according to society’s ‘norm’. Each component of the painted layout has a dual purpose: a ‘push, pull’ effect. The color bands and blocks act as a vehicle to another place, while also bringing the viewers focus back to this present space and state.

Modern Love 10 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 760 x 1000mm

Modern Love 17 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 760 x 1000mm

+ Your favourite thing about this series?

I found it refreshing and somewhat liberating to have parameters and grid on the canvas in this series. It was the next natural step from my earlier work. ‘Love is a Battlefield’ and ‘Lost Horizon’ series were full of emotion, chaos, and intensity. In this series I really wanted to pull back and find harmony between that chaos, a more controlled application.

+ Most challenging aspect?

Knowing when to stop and how far to go. There is always a fine line moment in the painting process when you will either create something special by adding that next layer, or completely stuff it up. Sometimes you find out the hard way.

Modern Love 5 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 600 x 600mm

Modern Love 16 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 760 x 1000mm

+ What did you learn during the production?

Patience! I usually work at a fast pace, wanting to get most of the painting done in 1 – 3 sessions. Due to the nature of this style (Modern Love series), I really needed to allow time for each layer to dry. Which also gave me time to step back and consider how each layer would interact.

+ Any interesting/ funny/ quirky facts you could tell us about your work?

I am forever stepping in paint – I paint on the floor, so there is often a pool of paint somewhere, and of course somehow my feet find that liquid and then I leave a foot trail all over my studio and into the rest of my home. Nightmare!
I also have a habit of adding to a painting even up to the day before it leaves my studio, but I think that’s an occupational hazard for most artists.

Modern Love 4 (2015) / Acrylic, varnish on canvas / 1016 x 1016mm