MUNTHE ART MONDAY: MARINA ARIAS
Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.
I am a visual artist from Salta, in northern Argentina, and currently based in Barcelona. My practice arises from a profound admiration for nature and explores terrains, minerals, and geological processes through painting. I work with raw cotton and pigments, allowing textures and lines to emerge gradually, creating surfaces that evoke the mineral memory of environments such as the Puna de Atacama, a stark, high-altitude, and imposing territory near where I grew up.
The captivating qualities of the Puna—its arid soils, volcanic rocks, shifting colors, and silent vastness—continue to shape my visual language. I seek to translate its raw beauty and ethereal presence. The resulting compositions invite contemplation, suggesting that the pulse of the land and human energy are intrinsically connected. My work is, in essence, an attempt to honor the quiet coexistence between humanity and nature
What has been the most challenging aspect of being a woman in the arts?
Today, I think that perseverance is the greatest challenge I face. Maintaining focus, staying committed to my own path, and trusting my process over the long term, despite external pressures and expectations, has felt like embracing an idea bigger than the circumstances and letting it guide me—and I am still finding my way through it.
Could you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?
There are several aspects that, in my case, have shaped my work. As women, we grow up within a
system that assigns us roles and expectations long before we are able to question them. Even as the
world changes, these structures remain deeply rooted, quietly shaping both how we are seen and
how we are allowed to see ourselves.
Something I keep present in my daily life is the need to recognize those contradictions and to build
my own narrative within them. From that awareness, I try to walk a more intentional path: one in
which my work, my effort, my pace, and my demands are not defined by inherited norms.
Today, I am surrounded by women I truly admire. Working alongside them has created a sense of
support and shared growth that feels both grounding and expansive. At this moment, I move
through my work from a place where sensitivity coexists with determination, where reflection
becomes a form of strength, and perseverance transforms into a quiet insistence on authenticity.
What would you like people to notice in your artwork?
I like this idea of thinking of the work as a dialogue with the viewer, a moment of encounter with an intimate part of ourselves and with the energy of the material: the pulse that runs through each surface and the presence contained in the lines. The work proposes a sensory journey rather than a rational reading: the intensity of time, erosion, ardor, and the strength of the essential.
Can you name some other female (artist) that inspires you and explain why they do so?
There are many female artists who have inspired me. I could mention Leonora Carrington, with her imagination and courage to explore the unconscious and create surreal worlds; Hilma af Klint, with her visionary approach and pioneering spirit in abstract art; the writer Isabel Allende, for the emotion in her stories that lingers.
I would also like to mention Alicia Gimeno, whose organic forms are deeply rooted in nature. I happened to work alongside her last year in adjacent studios. During that time, we reflected on the dialogue between intuition and technique, and the ways personal experiences shape our work.
