Michela Mansuino

“A Long time ago, when I was still in high school, a friend of mine asked me what I thought the purpose of life was. It sounds absurd, but I didn’t know, I was clue less. But when I am painting, or more specifically, when I am seeing and articulating it in paint, then I feel I am closer to knowing what the purpose of life is. The purpose of life is to acquire knowledge, about ourselves and the world we live in. This leads me to a conclusion.

In order to see what is in front of me and understand it, I have to paint from life. I have to paint realistically. This is the only way that learning by seeing constitutes the requisition of knowledge. I might also add that it is important to build on the knowledge of others. This is why I paint in a style known as contemporary humanist realism. I am learning about the eternal subject, and asking the infinitely old question, “”who are we, where did we come from and where are we going?”