Signs and cryptic tales in the works of Mistral 2023

by Sveva Manfredi Zavaglia - curator

The paintings in the "Walking on Sings" series are characterized by a cryptic language. They tell us of an inner journey, where we can perceive a new path made of signs that relate to the time of femininity. Intimacy is exposed and the artist speaks about herself. Works created with a high level of chromatic contrasts between black and pink, light blue and acid green, and orange and intense yellow. Sensations that are sometimes soft, sometimes strong, the rapidity of the scratchy marks present in the thickness of the oil colors attempts to communicate with energy beyond the canvas itself, silently touching our soul. The perfection in the study of the female body is intrinsic to all her works and expresses a continuous evolution in her artistic journey. This completely free interpretation brings us closer to existential and profound themes.

Today, the evolution of his artistic research can be seen in his latest works, with their swift, strong lines that seem to contain time, almost as if trying to stop it. His style is increasingly tinged with cryptic phrases, letters, and words, imprinted with the soul and crafted in his own language. We discover phrases in various languages, some reminiscent of Babylonian cuneiform writing; they too tell stories, like Mistral, and like the ancient Sumerians, retracing, through them, the history of our genesis, updated to modern times, but in a poetic language of its own that the general public must gradually discover. In all the languages of the world: what the eyes do not see, the heart feels, and art speaks to us through it.

Mistral's painting finds freedom of interpretation, as in art; it is a means of approaching the existential and profound themes of life, in hope and love, always positive and reborn. The freedom of the woman here must be a powerful inspiration for young people today. Through words, letters, numbers, and lines, we come to codify her mark on this unique and vibrant journey. Traces that are tales of signs among colors. Flames emerge between cracks of black pastel with long strokes.

The gazes of the women in her works scrutinize us, split, and time passes, but they inspire emotions that raise new questions. Everything is balanced, studied, and researched with great passion and engagement.

Piercing gazes, strong smiles, dreamy or sweet faces, femininity, sensuality combined with playfulness...all Mistral's women have features that make an immediate impact, with accents of light that do not hide the depth and sensitivity of humankind and the harshness of existence. Seeking to reinforce this time with primordial signs and memories that draw from the past. A vision full of energy in her elegant and modern figures, women confident in what they want in life. Expressive and realistic stylistic forms, in complete freedom, that go beyond the image itself.

In all her works, Mistral conveys intensity and emotion through the sign and its transformation. One can also relate to the scene of the work itself, but the foreground and abstract means are crucial to achieving it on the aesthetic level of pictorial language. The relationship between time, space, and sign explores Mistral's new themes in depth, including the multiple logics of our time and the metamorphoses of a new "iter signum." And it is only by walking that we understand where we must go. Mistral manages to find space within each of us, that small interior space to reconstruct a new story, the story of every day.