Silvana A. Manoliu
AQ is our series of hardcover catalogs celebrating extraordinary women artists. Available on Amazon. Visit the AQ Catalog Webpage to learn more.
Silvana A. Manoliu, featured in AQ Volume VI, is a part-time visual artist from Romania, holding a Bachelor's Degree in Dentistry from the University "Ovidius" of Constanta, Romania. She is interested in nature-inspired modern impressionist paintings and is influenced by Impressionist masters like Claude Monet as well as contemporary artists such as Ali Kay, because their work reflects a vibrant celebration of color, light, and emotional depth. In 2023, she enrolled in Ali Kay’s online painting course and became an active member of the Fresh Paint community—a global network of supportive artists—which helped her refine her technique and solidify her voice as a modern impressionist.
Her work celebrates the beauty of transience—capturing fleeting moments in nature such as watering the plants in a garden or playing with snow—using vivid, complementary colors, optical blending, and cropped modern compositions. She paints on handmade cradled wooden panels, which she manufactures herself, creating a unique surface that enhances her bold, expressive brushwork and provides collectors with ready-to-hang artwork.
Each series she creates is rooted in storytelling and emotional connection, inviting viewers to be mindful and rediscover the joy and wonder of the natural world.
Manoliu has exhibited her work online, and her paintings are part of private collections. In the future, she plans to continue developing thematic painting series, expand her international collector base through exclusive newsletter releases, and collaborate with like-minded creatives who share her passion for nature and the celebration of transience.
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What inspired you to become an artist, and how did you decide to commit to this path?
It was during a trying time a few years ago, when my life felt colourless, that I turned to painting and found an online painting course along with a supportive community of worldwide artists. Sharing fragments of myself with the world, in bright colours, maybe because I didn't want to hide in neutral tones anymore, was a gesture of reclaiming my own presence, and most important: my feminity.
Could you share the story or concept behind your recent work?
The concept behind my recent work is the celebration of transience—the idea that nature’s most beautiful moments are also its most fleeting. By capturing these instances in paint, I aim to preserve their emotional impact and invite viewers to reconnect with the wonder of the natural world. It’s about honouring the overlooked and turning the ordinary into something quietly extraordinary.
What role do experimentation and exploration play in your artistic practice?
Experimentation is essential to my process—I’m constantly exploring how colour, composition, and texture interact. From building my panels to using the optical blending technique, I love finding new ways to make my paintings feel alive. Each piece is both a discovery and a conversation with the subject.
What message do you hope your art conveys to the world?
My art is not so much about making an earth-shattering statement, as it is about reminding people to be present and to cherish the smallest, quiet but precious moments that often go unnoticed in life, like noticing a bloom, playing with fresh snow, or watering the plants in your garden. My art is a celebration of that magic.
Share a mantra or favourite quote that keeps you going.
Nothing keeps me going through the inevitable "messy middle" stages of my paintings like the words of Pablo Picasso: "Art is chaos taking shape." I believe that being an artist means being a shaper of chaos... into something worth gazing at.
