Elena Surdu Stanescu loves the human body in all its hues, contortions, and pieces. Her sculptures usually emerge from the stiff flatness of a background, and there is little one can do to disguise the life she sculpts into them. Known primarily for her work in "arte plastice", Stanescu's sculptures embrace the human being in all its convulted entanglements, loves, and interactions. It is easy to describe her work as a romantic modern sojourn for the attention she gives to love and sexuality.
Stanescu's work is currently on display in Jakarta. The local Jakarta press describes Stanescu's art as a game played with "universal symbols of love, affection and spirituality through the form and material":
Her use of birds symbolizes the departure from the real world into a spiritual dimension; windows also symbolize communication or transcending to another dimension, while man and woman symbolize love.
"Nudity is a universal symbol of beauty; birds are general symbols of departure throughout the whole history of art. Birds are also symbols of silence and purity," Elena says, citing Pablo Picasso's Dove of Peace as an example.
"Woman and man are natural representations of love. It's easy to observe, which makes my art more accessible. Audiences will easily realize men and women mean love. Of course, there are other symbols of love but you can't make it any more obvious than men and women.
"If we symbolized love with man and man that would not necessarily be a symbol of love. It could be a symbol of sexual freedom, or of human rights, but it would not focus on love as a general symbol and as a normal way of perpetuating the species."
Stanescu's human figures never have complete bodies. The removal of some volume in sculpture is influenced by Greek sculptural elements.
Having studied under her, Romanian Art Gallery offers a few personal details and images. For more on Stanescu:
- Article in Curierul National, October 2007.
- Her work at Romanian Art Gallery.
- Her work at the Enescu Festival.
- Her exposition at the Museum of Art.
- A joint exhibition sponsored by the Elena Surdu Stanescu Cultural Foundation and Gallerya della Mostra in Italy.
