Iva Tesorio

Iva Tesorio, a painter and illustrator originally from Slovakia, moved to France after the fall of the Berlin Wall and then moved to the south of France, where she now resides. Influenced by her travels and the sun-drenched colors of Uzès, she paints real and fictional landscapes. Her paintings explore the passage of time, and her memories blend with the setting.

A rare and diffuse softness emanates from these particular brushstrokes. In the shadows, young girls in bloom rub shoulders with peaceful, sleeping animals. In his paintings, Iva Tesorio uses a blue background, as if to transport us into a great dream that only ends when our eyes leave his work. In this great blue dream, birds take flight, men and women wander quietly while children escape. The wind blows.

As they wander through the gallery, visitors are drawn into a resounding silence. In some of the paintings, the artist's evocative talent is powerfully revealed. We can make out musical notes rippling here and there, the joyful barking of dogs following their masters, and the confused music of a palpable but ambiguous nature. Iva Tesorio manages to give warmth to cold colors and reveals a rich expressiveness.
At the sight of these serene-looking figures, a tenderness takes hold of us. This feeling mixes with the intuitive awareness that these moments have ended. We cannot help but think of Proust's madeleine, of that sudden emotion that touches us when memory springs forth. Iva Tesorio paints daily life with sobriety and knows how to give a mysterious aura to looks and movements. With an almost photographic perspective, she captures ephemeral moments. But the imprecision of the surroundings of the characters in her paintings anchors us in a memory, both confused and precise, with powerful images. Iva Tesorio creates an interior world where an immaterial reality persists. None of her figures are real, and we observe this inaccessible and vaporous world with fascination. Her models sometimes wear masks. It is a mischievous way of reminding us that this entire universe is dreamlike.
By evoking the passing of time and depicting melancholy, Iva Tesorio reminds us of the great vanities of the Renaissance.
The artist uses a technique of superimposing layers of paint. Assembled, all these unique layers constitute an archive, a memory testifying to past work.
Iva Tesorio's work is a sensitive exploration of time that leads us to question the fragility of our existence, but it is also a way to sail towards a peaceful intimacy, a rich inner world that moves us.