It was watching television as a child and adolescent in Argentina that started Mena Sambiasi’s photographic journey. The world and possibilities in fiction introduced the portals for experiencing different lives – even if just through an intricate detail of a photograph. At first, she tended towards working in video production which brought her to Spain. But it was the striking images in a memorable film, again, that encouraged her return to Buenos Aires to study photography. The inspiration of art forms carried on like the perpetual transfer of energy; flowing through one medium and into the next. The television shows once enjoyed on the screen inspire the creation of new meanings and stories such as felt in photographic print Bilbao.

Saturated light, detailed architecture, and proportions of all elements human or static create a stunning moment that invites an imaginative story. Perhaps a scene from an action-packed adventure or a contemplative establishing shot of a long and perilous romance can be imagined as the framing story.

But inspiration for Sambiasi is not as simple as a chronological story. When beginning to first study photography she discovered the complex beauty of capturing reflections. Seeing the layers of life superimpose an accumulation of dreams and details as vast as the many interpretations one can have of art itself. Palace is a great example of the emergent meaning that reflections provide in their combined beauty.

Over the years Sambiasi recounts that this ongoing theme of reflections has slowly peeled back its layers. Returning from Buenos Aires to Spain, she began to see more poetic images exposed with clarity and directness. Moods and thoughts were transferred through the lens in a different way than with a reflective focus. The cruder textures of Machine Tree transform the rugged reality into a poetic metaphor, a rough piece of equipment takes on a delicate grace with its slender copper details and gleaming light.

Sambiasi celebrates these emergent interpretations with the profound acknowledgment that the viewer experience is what defines the artwork. In a playful paradox, her intentional absence of a defining clear message becomes the message itself. Viewers are invited to feel anything with the acceptance that in itself is a tremendous act. 

For that reason, when it comes to envisioning her photography as wall art her work is versatile for the individuality of any home and space. Large formats of these vibrant prints can easily be pictured in the stairwell of a modern house framed by high ceilings or the geometric lines and shapes of some photographs fit the atmosphere of an architect’s office. Whatever the taste, their beauty is always found in the multiplicity of meanings for one to experience depending on the mood of the moment.

That special encounter with each image is mirrored in Sambiasi’s joy and sense of freedom in her work. With her favored telephoto lens she continues to discover the details of life with the curiosity of a child saving the fantastic process of absorbing her work for when she returns home after a shoot. It is that spirited quest for meaning that ARVIVID invites viewers to enjoy in their own homes with the uninhibited appreciation for the pleasure of one’s unique feelings.

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