Cecilia Granara Italian, b. 1991
The Cat, the Woman, and the Clouds, 2024
acrylic and oil on canvas
80 x 60 cm
Further images
Cecilia Granara’s practice is an ongoing exploration of intimacy, womanhood, and spirituality. Rooted in a daily routine that combines the spiritual practices of Automatic writing, tarot, and meditation, her work...
Cecilia Granara’s practice is an ongoing exploration of intimacy, womanhood, and spirituality. Rooted in a daily routine that combines the spiritual practices of Automatic writing, tarot, and meditation, her work emerges from a deep connection to the subconscious. The artist brings to life the visions that arise during her personal spiritual practices, sketching, and meditating. This process constantly surprises Granara, as her subconscious is given room to express itself freely, without constrictive intentions or directions. As she explains, “I don’t set out to intentionally convey anything specific, but my interests and worries come across subconsciously through the subject matter and the techniques I work with. Today I see my works more as a humble offering of what’s going through me, whatever that may be – spiritual, physical, unnameable.”
Granara’s practice is deeply informed by her studies of feminism, painting, and the relationship between art and the psyche. Reflecting on the feminist mantra “the personal is political”, and on the exclusion of women artists from art history, Granara’s exploration of women’s bodies, their stories, and their iconography was initially approached from a more political standpoint. However, as her practice evolved, Granara turned inward, drawing from a constantly evolving spiritual path.
Granara’s practice reflects Surrealist cues, though most often drawn from the inspiration she finds in female exponents of the movement such as Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, and Ithell Colquhoun. “Carrington focused on presenting female experiences authentically rather than through the lens of male surrealists, and this distinguished her so much from the European bank of Surrealist images that we all know. To me, her body of work embodies the characteristics of Surrealism but also offers a distinct feminine perspective that enriches the movement's legacy.” (Cecilia Granara)
While Granara acknowledges the similarities between her own imagery and Surrealist traditions, her practice is not dream-based but rather meditational. She is interested in how images and words can influence our reality, and is drawn to the transformative power of practical magic. Granara uses tarot readings within her practice to center herself and open-up her mind to limitless possibilities. Through this process she further aligns with the women Surrealists who used mediumistic practices and spiritual symbolism to guide their artistic processes. Amongst these is Carrington herself, who made her own 21 Major arcana - a deck that Granara personally consulted in Mexico City, further connecting with the artist and her work.
Granara’s exhibited series explicitly references Carrington’s sculpture ‘Cat Without Boots’, which repeatedly appeared during her meditative practices after having witnessed images of the piece for the first time. The composition and tone of Granara’s works are influenced by the ‘Strength’ card as drawn by Pamela Colman Smith’s in the ‘Rider Waite’ tarot deck - a deck that Carrington allegedly consulted. Granara’s paintings present a young female embracing the cat sculpture, her closed eyes symbolising the gathering of strength, while the cat’s open eyes convey fearlessness and curiosity. In this dynamic, the cat acts as a protector, like a friendly sphinx, with the piece also referencing the iconography of women and cats in witchcraft, sexuality, and fusion: “I paid attention to place the spiral on the sculpture’s chest, symbol of the infinite and of cyclical nature of life, parallel to the woman’s first chakra, which is understood to be about animal instinct, security, and survival.”
Cecilia Granara was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1991. Of Italian nationality, she grew up in Mexico City, Rome, and Chicago. She presently lives and works between Paris and Mexico City. Granara has a BA from Central St. Martin’s School in London, and MFAs from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, Paris and Hunter College, New York. Past institutional Solo shows include ‘Naître, Renaître’ at Contemporary Art Center Passerelle, France, and ‘Tazas y Arcos’ at the Italian Cultural Institute, Mexico City. Other significant shows include ‘Occhi, Luce, Sangue, Stelle’, a duo show with works by Carol Rama at Cassina Projects, Milan and multiple Solo shows at Sapling, London. Granara participated in institutional group shows at Musée D’Orsay (FR), Ford Foundation Gallery (U.S.A.) , FRAC Corsica (FR), Fondation Pernod Ricard (FR), Triennale Milano (IT), Château La Coste (FR), LAAC Musée de Dunkerque (FR), Centre D’Art Contemporain Passerelle (FR), Centre d’Art Parc Saint Léger (FR), Musée Cérès Franco (FR), Contemporary Art Center of Armenia, Zeyrek Cynili Hammam Museum (Turkey), MAXXI, Rome (IT) and ps120 Berlin (Germany). Granara was a finalist of the Antoine Marin Prize in 2019, the Cairo Prize in Italy in 2021, and the Club GAMEC Prize (Italy) in 2023. Her work is part of the X Museum collection, Beijing. She was selected for the HFBK Residency in Hamburg in 2021, CP Projects Milan in 2022, and Territoires Extra Residency as part of CAC Passerelle (France) in 2023.
Granara’s practice is deeply informed by her studies of feminism, painting, and the relationship between art and the psyche. Reflecting on the feminist mantra “the personal is political”, and on the exclusion of women artists from art history, Granara’s exploration of women’s bodies, their stories, and their iconography was initially approached from a more political standpoint. However, as her practice evolved, Granara turned inward, drawing from a constantly evolving spiritual path.
Granara’s practice reflects Surrealist cues, though most often drawn from the inspiration she finds in female exponents of the movement such as Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, and Ithell Colquhoun. “Carrington focused on presenting female experiences authentically rather than through the lens of male surrealists, and this distinguished her so much from the European bank of Surrealist images that we all know. To me, her body of work embodies the characteristics of Surrealism but also offers a distinct feminine perspective that enriches the movement's legacy.” (Cecilia Granara)
While Granara acknowledges the similarities between her own imagery and Surrealist traditions, her practice is not dream-based but rather meditational. She is interested in how images and words can influence our reality, and is drawn to the transformative power of practical magic. Granara uses tarot readings within her practice to center herself and open-up her mind to limitless possibilities. Through this process she further aligns with the women Surrealists who used mediumistic practices and spiritual symbolism to guide their artistic processes. Amongst these is Carrington herself, who made her own 21 Major arcana - a deck that Granara personally consulted in Mexico City, further connecting with the artist and her work.
Granara’s exhibited series explicitly references Carrington’s sculpture ‘Cat Without Boots’, which repeatedly appeared during her meditative practices after having witnessed images of the piece for the first time. The composition and tone of Granara’s works are influenced by the ‘Strength’ card as drawn by Pamela Colman Smith’s in the ‘Rider Waite’ tarot deck - a deck that Carrington allegedly consulted. Granara’s paintings present a young female embracing the cat sculpture, her closed eyes symbolising the gathering of strength, while the cat’s open eyes convey fearlessness and curiosity. In this dynamic, the cat acts as a protector, like a friendly sphinx, with the piece also referencing the iconography of women and cats in witchcraft, sexuality, and fusion: “I paid attention to place the spiral on the sculpture’s chest, symbol of the infinite and of cyclical nature of life, parallel to the woman’s first chakra, which is understood to be about animal instinct, security, and survival.”
Cecilia Granara was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1991. Of Italian nationality, she grew up in Mexico City, Rome, and Chicago. She presently lives and works between Paris and Mexico City. Granara has a BA from Central St. Martin’s School in London, and MFAs from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, Paris and Hunter College, New York. Past institutional Solo shows include ‘Naître, Renaître’ at Contemporary Art Center Passerelle, France, and ‘Tazas y Arcos’ at the Italian Cultural Institute, Mexico City. Other significant shows include ‘Occhi, Luce, Sangue, Stelle’, a duo show with works by Carol Rama at Cassina Projects, Milan and multiple Solo shows at Sapling, London. Granara participated in institutional group shows at Musée D’Orsay (FR), Ford Foundation Gallery (U.S.A.) , FRAC Corsica (FR), Fondation Pernod Ricard (FR), Triennale Milano (IT), Château La Coste (FR), LAAC Musée de Dunkerque (FR), Centre D’Art Contemporain Passerelle (FR), Centre d’Art Parc Saint Léger (FR), Musée Cérès Franco (FR), Contemporary Art Center of Armenia, Zeyrek Cynili Hammam Museum (Turkey), MAXXI, Rome (IT) and ps120 Berlin (Germany). Granara was a finalist of the Antoine Marin Prize in 2019, the Cairo Prize in Italy in 2021, and the Club GAMEC Prize (Italy) in 2023. Her work is part of the X Museum collection, Beijing. She was selected for the HFBK Residency in Hamburg in 2021, CP Projects Milan in 2022, and Territoires Extra Residency as part of CAC Passerelle (France) in 2023.