Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 3, 1990 TAG: 9005020178
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERTA GREEN SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Pinto, a native of Bucaramanga, Colombia, and a resident of Rio de Janeiro, has studied architecture, fine arts and design, photography and photoprinting, photo-silkscreening, metal printing, engraving, lithography, and materials and painting techniques, so to any project she brings a diverse background of interests and skills.
"My work changes a lot from one exhibit to another," Pinto said. "But I've always loved painting, perhaps because my mother is a painter.
"When I was 2 or so I would paint on her paintings - and probably destroyed them all - but I didn't think about becoming a painter until I was in school in England and began visiting all the museums. . . .
"My early work involved problems of the environment. The works were related to cans and rubbish and processed food. They were not necessarily the kinds of things you could hang on the wall, crushed cans and all that," Pinto said.
One of her works was a photomontage. The creation took a a pineapple and, through the series of photographs, transformed the fruit into a container of pineapple juice.
She still has environmental concerns, but over time Pinto has become more involved in developing visual ideas rather than developing a kind of social critique.
"Sometimes I used to worry about the changes my art undergoes, but now I realize it just changes like that. I just let it go and realize it will change again. Once I saw it as a disadvantage; now I know it's an advantage."
The idea for her current show, the mosaic acrylics, grew out of her last exhibit, symbolic pre-Colombian figures (exhibited at Bogota's Centro Cultural last year), and out of the visual qualities of computers.
Her husband, Marco Antonio Souza, is visiting engineering science professor at Tech. His interest in computers fueled Pinto's recognition of computer images as a series of mosaics. The squares that Pinto has made into art grow from the picture elements or pixels that are the building blocks of computer images.
"It took me a month of working every day to complete each painting," she said. "All of the squares or mosaics are related but they are all broken. There are no lines between the squares.
"I am patient with my painting. In fact, that may be where all of my patience goes," smiled Pinto, after explaining that one of the paintings, a large floral design, was made of 250 squares, each of which was painted separately.
"The first paintings I did with this technique were completely abstract, squares with no relation to those next to them except for the colors. I limited myself to three colors: red, black and white. That idea carried over a bit into the works now on exhibit."
Pinto paints only with natural light, so her days are spent working. As soon as the light is gone, she begins doing the other things she enjoys.
Arnold Schuetz, director of the Cranwell International Center, explained the importance exhibits like this one: "We try to serve as a podium for cultural activities which bring the U.S. community and the international community together.
"Art is a very important way to do that. Many of the visitors we have here are very talented individuals. Silvia Pinto's work is very intriguing. We're fortunate to have the opportunity to exhibit it here."
Pinto's exhibit is free and will be at the Cranwell Center Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., through May 15.
by CNB