Best of Nudity: Monica Muresan

“Edifying the simple and sometimes overlooked is something that has always moved me to make art”, says Melbourne artist Monica Muresan. “To honour the beauty that is possible of the world is something I hope to always strive towards and make manifest in my work.” This calm observation of the world around her produces works of quiet clarity, but within Monica’s oeuvre it generates the most powerful scenes when her eye turns to the nude form, where such an approach emphasises a sense of vulnerability imbued in her subjects. They are caught in simple, quiet moments of repose or thought, where the innate beauty of simply living becomes art. Monica restricts herself to using only watercolours, with occasional touches of graphite, which gives the scenes a dream-like quality. This has the effect of elevating these familiar and intimate sights and transforming them into something ethereal, solid in their recognisability and yet somehow inscrutable. Even when the subject of these tableaus is the artist herself, her face is turned away from the viewer, inviting her audience to look, but never to know.

Feature image: Monica Muresan, Dormant Halves, M. Watercolour on paper, 70 x 100cm. Courtesy: the artist