Petra Marino

Petra Marino is a minimalist photographer who has exhibited in Bulgaria, England, and Japan. Notable exhibitions in Sofia, Bulgaria include the Center for Contemporary Art, Largo Gallery, City garden, Zapaden Park Art Festival, and The Red House. Petra’s recognitions and awards include 13th Arts Sofia, a grant from Rinker's Challenge, Puerto Rico Design Awards, and London Photographic Awards. Her publications include F-Stop Magazine, Obscura Magazine, Traces of Heat, New social poetry, and A Journal of Photography & Poetry. Petra describes the philosophy of her work as “the urban environment transforms into a source of inspiration and a place to which we can feel emotionally connected - a space where we can ‘put down roots’. This becomes increasingly important in today's world of globalization and homogenization”.

The photography focuses not only on interiors but specifically tends to portray walls. Petra captures the subtle shadow and corners of the walls to convey a deep minimalistic aesthetic which communicates a sense of purity and ‘clean slate’. Ranging from new contemporary walls to ones painted or have suffered through the process of erosion, her art expresses a sense of solitude and sorrow, typically with an intense focus on a corner of a wall, conveying a sense of entrapment and melancholiness. Her works can be described as an expression of suburban nihilism and urban decay but with a puristic, almost angelic quality with the purity of the texture and paint on her walls. Petra’s theme of walls and interiors indulge the sociological implications of both inner and outer confinement, both psychologically and literally through the close depictions of corners. 

How light interacts in Petra’s work remains critically important; without the light, her planes would resemble flat compositions. The penetration of natural sunlight on her subjects are strategic and conceptual, conveying a mood or directing the eye towards one direction or the other. The angular tendencies within her planes are shaped by corners and enhanced by the direction and scope of the penetrating light upon the surface. 

Metamorphosis # 1 (pictured above) contains a distorted sense of perspective. The viewer may not be able to tell if the picture is taken of a ceiling or depicting a wall and floor. If the latter, the horizontal plane appears like a wall shelf, if the other, the corrugated structure to the left could be ceiling panels. Or perhaps a staircase? The mystery behind the composition reveals the clever use of optical distortions through minimalistic capturing. The floor or wall to the front offers a visual divide of a pastel teal tone, creating a sense of harmonic friction and subtle contrast.

Petra Marino remains a dynamic photographer who communicates deep inclinations on the power of minimalism. Her mysterious approach and depictions of a refined subject matter reveals an artist interested in expressing the most by depicting the least. The works can be described as a sociological allegory towards finding meaning, purpose, solitude, and a sense of self against the symbolism of walls and pure interiors. Petra remains a formidable artist who simultaneously provides clarity in purity but mystery in conceptual form.

https://petramarino.com