Angela Petsis the Gatekeeper of a Surreal mysterious mystic voyage...

I was so happy when Angela agreed to do the interview, she's an artist I truly admire in the mixed media world.
There is so much enigmas, alleys of mystic mysteries & spiritual rebirth in her work that I wanted to share her work with you here.



The artist path that I have taken has been a very winding road! My first love has always been photography. I started taking photography classes when I was just 15 years old; I love photography so much that I continued with my education and in 1995 I graduated with a degree in photography for the Art Institute of Philadelphia. There was a long stretch of time after I graduated that I actually stopped taking pictures and didn’t do anything creative at all. I went back to college in 1999 and later received a bachelor’s degree in an area of the liberal arts. About three years ago I started creating college work. I really loved it and just kept experimenting with different techniques. I never had any formal training in painting or drawing – in fact I can’t draw very well, it’s not a natural talent for me like it is for a lot of people. I think that’s why I started getting deeper and deeper into to mixed media work, if I wanted to use an image of a bird, I could just use a photograph of a bird instead, and that’s how it really started to evolve.


1)your mixed media artworks have mysterious titles , how do

they come to you? is it the title first or the piece that

came first ;-) ?

I think creating titles for your art is just as important as the artwork itself; sometimes I will come up with a title first and create a new piece around the words. Most of the time, I create a piece of art an then I look at it for awhile…the titles then just come to me as if the painting or photograph is speaking for itself. I think instinctually you know when the title is right –it just fits the piece.


2)I sense torments, poetical melancholy and spiritual

depths in your work, where do you find all these

inspirations and is your life and soul painted in those

works or is it more stable & sort of happier?

As my work has become more public, I have received more and more questions about my motivations regarding my work. It’s funny because I see myself as a very happy and optimistic person by nature and I don’t think my work is dark or foreboding. I think we all are on our own path in this life and we all come fully equipped with our own baggage to carry. Some of us have been more wounded by life than others and I think that can come through in the creative process. I don’t know what the psychology is behind the images I create, I just enjoy elements that are fanciful and whimsical - a sort of ethereal look into those things that can only be found in the unconscious or the imagination.

3)You do see the Unseen, could you share about this please?

I definitely see the unseen in everyday life. You have to look beyond the curtain of what you perceive is your reality to find the magic. I was always told growing up I had my “head in the clouds” I think that’s where you have to be in order to see past the mundane and find the creative spirit.

4)There symbolic imagery in your work like eyes, red

balloons,crows,twisted trees, what do they mean to you?


I do have a personal iconography; these symbols definitely mean things to me. I think defining these symbols takes away from the mystery and enjoyment that the viewer gets from looking at my art, so most of the time, I try not to talk about what these images mean to me, because I would much rather hear about what it means to the viewer.



5)How do you begin a painting, is it something spontaneous

or it grows for several days or sometimes months in your

mind?

Most of the time when I work, I don’t have an exact idea of how the painting is going to develop. I do work very quickly – most pieces are done the same day they are started. Usually I’ll begin a piece based on a vintage photograph, a color theme or a particular element. For instance I’ll get an idea that I want to do a piece with both airplanes and an elephant, and it just takes off from there.


6)If you were one of your artwork at the moment here and

now which one would you be and why?

I would be “There are Many Mysteries along your Journey”. The female figure in this piece looks like the gatekeeper that you must pass by in order to move forward into a more mystifying voyage. She is the one that knows all the secrets, she has all the answers to all the questions you’ve ever had. I think it would be exciting to be that character.

7)you also do photography, how do you define your style and

what are you trying to express with photos?

I enjoy using inexpensive cameras when taking pictures. The lack of technology creates some interesting results that are unpredictable and fascinating. I like to describe my photography has still images from dreams; you’re not sure what the context is at first, it’s like taking vignettes of someone’s thoughts – small moments in time that are frozen forever as if taken out of someone’s deepest thoughts.




8)what are your present projects and dreams?

I’d like to continue creating new mixed media pieces, and I really want to publish my own photography book.

9)what is your biggest fear and greatest joy right now?

My biggest fear is that I will get so caught up with everyday life that I will let my creativity lapse and not have time to continue to create. My biggest joy right now is just being here, going wherever the moment takes me.

find more about Angela's work here:

venus the muse