Mother Teresa (2016)

Mother Teresa dates back to 2015 and is a powerful testament to Virtosu's enduring vision and creativity as it encloses a mesmerizing and candid middle way – an artistic middle way, one which also mirrors the character’s attitude.

Mother Teresa was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata (1950). She ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned and dying of Kolkata for over 45 years and remains to this day an example of kindness and care for another. In one of her interviews, she confessed referring to her death: “If I ever become a Saint – I will surely be one of 'darkness'. I will continually be absent from Heaven – to light the light of those in darkness on earth”. She was an epitome of finding the manner to blend in and this reflects in Vîrtosu’s depiction as well. Mother Teresa was part of humanity, not separated and it empowered her. Thus, the artist made use of his sensitive approach and departed from his investigations, finding himself halfway between subject and materiality.

Flatly applied paint with thick, pasty brushstrokes set Mother Theresa not against, but as a necessary part for the intriguing background, portraying her in a coded imaginative blur.

Mother Teresa (2015) represents a moment of clarity and growing resolution. Virtosu's features are here rendered with an exuberant chromatic palette and appear fully resolved; the palette of earthly colours confers a feeling of action, while the centre piece conveys both a sense of solitude and infinite possibilities.