University: MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts
Graduation Year: 2022
At once contemplative yet assertive, plant-like yet bodily, Bianca Mierlea’s paintings invite us in. Heavily stylised, we are aware that we are looking at a representation of reality rather than reality. It is this that makes the paintings so strange, so engaging. Mierlea speaks of the paintings having a ‘transformative energy’. This is quickly apparent, with the paintings engaging in a sort of associative gameplay. Too abstract to be illustrative, the spiritual nature of the paintings helps to guide us. Petals transform into bodily parts, flowing lines turn to fluid. As viewers, we are left with a space to think, to imagine, to dream.
My name is Bianca Mierlea and I am a Romanian artist (b. 1999), based in London. Through my work I explore different esoteric concepts such as out of body experiences, the vibrational frequency that surrounds all of us, the existence of parallel universes, spirituality, but also concepts of femininity and the power of the self.In my works I play with different aspects such as: real-unreal, solid-non solid, human versus hybrid being. Through my paintings, ceramics and textile works I show the power of the transformative energy, the journey of the self/higher self and the contrasts between reality and dream. I take my inspiration from organic shapes, images that I recollect from a meditative state.
My working process is based on a contrast between instinct versus rational, memory and fluidity that blends with the materiality and multiple textures that I use. With each work I aim to create a new universe and to break the boundaries between the physical self and the spiritual one in order to connect them. In my paintings and textile art I combine a sense of movement and transformation which is connected with the ephemerality of the human self which is in contrast with the spiritual self. The vivid colours that I use in my work are inspired from nature, different types of plants, but also from the way I envision other realities. I am also inspired by the human body, especially by the women forms and how these connect with the true self and the hybrid beings that I create in my art. One question that surrounds my practice is ‘What if the reality is the dream?’.
(2021) 'Beyond the Universe', 1 B Window Gallery, London
(2020) 'Fantasy', Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest
(2019) 'Metamorphosis', Romanian Cultural Institute, London
(2016) 'Transylvania', Metropolis Theatre, Bucharest
(2022) 'Infinite Realities', Chelsea College of Arts, London
(2022) 'Sisyphean', The Fitzrovia Gallery, London
(2021) 'A lost world', Cookhouse Gallery, London
(2021) 'Rally', Chelsea College of Arts, London
(2021) 'Heterotopia', Online, Online
(2021) Dress Rehearsal Show, Triangle space, Chelsea College of Arts
(2020) MA Exhibition, Cookhouse Gallery, London
(2020) Graduate Showcase exhibition, Online, Chelsea College of Arts
(2019) 'Am I As Joyous As I Should Be', Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, London
(2018) 'Split milk', 5th Base Gallery, London
(2017) Ba Fine Art exhibition, Cookhouse Gallery, London
(2016) 'Transformation', German Cultural Institute, Brasov, Romania
(2015) 'Horizons', Chapelle Saint Quentin, Mons, Belgium