“My name is Leo Viridis, and I’m a self-taught artist. I have always enjoyed drawing, painting and finding new forms of expression. I have recently started experimenting with digital painting. I’m fascinated with its potential to instantly translate creativity at any time or place. My process begins by drawing with vector graphics or by hand using a graphics tablet and optical pen, and I then print my work on canvas. 

Five years ago, I started a project called ‘Nigredo’, named after one of the phases of alchemy, where matter is rotted and brought back to primordial chaos. This also influences the inwardness of the alchemist, who will have to prepare himself to face his own demons. I was inspired by the Mutus Liber - a book from 1677 in which the entire process of alchemical transmutation is described symbolically, not with words, but through hieroglyphic drawings. I decided to create paintings that focus not on the manipulation of matter, but on the internal processes and the states of consciousness linked to them, the so-called internal alchemy. My project is divided into three sub-categories, dialogue with the ancients, metaphysical landscapes, archetypes and fetishes.

I rarely plan my works. I prefer to try to reach inner silence and let myself be guided by it. My paintings create themselves with minimal assistance from my mind. My purpose is to capture the viewer’s attention through archetypal shapes, colours and images that accompany him on an inner journey and new states of consciousness.

I have exhibited in various venues in Treviso, Italy and have taken part in group exhibitions at the Galleria Cael in Milan and the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. If you’re interested in my work, you’re welcome to find out more on Instagram @leoviridisart.”

Contact

Instagram: @leoviridisart
Facebook: Leo Viridis art

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