Nisa Goiburu
ARTIST
The light footsteps the ephemeral flights the quiet voices the silent screams the echo of their music, they hide their emotions behind the light smile of those who know, that their goddess lies in the depths of the shadows.
This fragment of the poem The Goddesses made its debut in 2014 at Caelum Gallery of Manhattan along with a collection of paintings whose central theme was the female figure. The exhibition, entitled Women Through the Ages, showcased Nisa Goiburu’s skill at materializing her ideology through languages seemingly at odds – languages that would become complementary in her hands.
That ability to combine disciplines (painting, sculpture, poetry, dance, performance) so as to create universes that are parallel to the troubled reality is what has allowed Goiburu to exhibit her work in half the world (from Paris to Tokyo and from Tetouan to Toronto) and receive muchdeserved recognition.
In the midst of the Me Too movement, it may seem risky to speak of women’s art as a separate category from men’s art. But there is a difference. We are not speaking about equal rights or opportunities; we are not speaking about equity. This is an art that arises from a different seed; an art that is born, so to speak, of a mother. How could that be the same? Minimal artistic sensibility suffices to perceive the difference. In Goiburu’s case, that distinction is not only palpable in her way of turning female figures into deities but also in her choice of words and materials and in the use she makes thereof.
Through her work, Nisa breathes life into Egyptian, Greek, and Japanese goddesses; into Mother Earth, Naked Majas, the Venus of Velázquez; into Salome, the Moon, and Ariadne saving Theseus from the Minotaur’s labyrinth.they are the great protagonists of her paintings, created after careful study of the world around them. Her aim is to depict the woman in the most characteristic and poetic forms of her nature, as a maker and life-giver.through the images represented, she transports viewers to deep introspection of their memory, until they connect with the woman of all ages, with the timelessness of her essence, to be in harmony with Mother Earth.
In an aurora of the full moon flashes of light bathe the green grass
after the mist has cleared.
It sways under the wind’s rhythm, its shades know no end,
memorized...
it fades in the distant meadows with stunning calm,
the perfume of the fresh grass invades my senses,
making me feel… nature in its fullest.
Under the watchful eye of hundreds of empowered women, Nisa Goiburu’s work also invites the viewer to delve into scenarios beyond the here and now.cities of marble, paintings with impossible landscapes, mazes, empty theaters, trees that do not allow a view of the forest, and surreal architectural spaces that wake up the feeling of having suffered ostracism, always bearing in mind nature.
Nisa has been lucky enough to be surrounded by great teachers. Her friendships with Jorge Oteiza, José Ramón Anda, Bernardo Atxaga, Nestor Basterretxea, Javier Belloportu, and Vicente Ameztoy have undoubtedly helped to enrich her imagination. Her eclecticism when blending styles and themes, figuration and abstraction, painting and sculpture, installations, music, and poetry yields universal pieces that arouse great emotion.