The surreal cityscapes of Marchu Torres vibrate with bright colors, distinctive lines, and a sense of childlike joy. Inspired by avant-gardeartists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Torres focuses on the idea of the city instead of its physical reality: how it can appear different to different people and how it can symbolize homes, families, and different cultures. In Torres’ cityscapes the streets have no names; there is an evocation of exploration and mystery wherever you look.
An Argentine native, Torres moved to Canada to teach art, and her work is strongly influenced by her experiences emigrating from one country to another. She says she paints the city she grew up in, or at least her reimagination of it, exploring themes of idealization and the rootlessness felt after one leaves one place for another. “Living in another country gives you many experiences and things to struggle with,” she says. Perhaps this is what gives her work a sense of uninhibited wonder and exploration, as well as the occasional nostalgic twinge, expressed in the pigments Torres employs.
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Agora Gallery
“River Bank”
“Pink”
