Teodora PICA visual artist

Colours, shapes and symbols become vessels for my experience and that of humanity. In this "Core Estate" series, I divided the paintings into three groups - Dowry, Treasures and Ardour – to portray the treasures of my dowry chest and how they represent both the personal and the communal.

In moments of soul-searching solitude, I look through my dowry chest. This has become a comforting ritual for me, this glimpsing and gentle handling of treasures touching the core of my soul.

These dowry chest and its treasures may indeed be intimate, but they represent universal beliefs too. The dowry chest appears in numerous cultures. And its objects – scarves, tapestries, carvings and ceramics - along with the images in the paintings representing them – the sun and the spiral – vary in importance from culture to culture. Still, their use and sense remain universal.