Painting is emotions, colors, and moods stirring the soul. When painting, Matiko Mamaladze creates art. She feels it, breathes it, dreams it, and finds herself in it. Raised in a family as richly saturated in art as her paintings are in color, this passion was almost inevitable. Her works are enchanting on many levels; they depict beautiful, emotionally vivid stories, played out by characters that masterfully draw empathy from the viewer. Even when she isn’t holding a palette and brush (or just as often, a palette knife), Matiko is immersed in her unique perception of the world – a perception that almost always finds its way onto her canvases. Matiko feels the strongest, happiest, and most free when she paints. Her figures don’t cast shadows, intentionally: “I find life mystical, dreamlike, and my subjects float in space,” she says. Linseed oil is in Matiko’s blood. She begins painting abstractly, large masses and shapes leading her to concrete compositions. This reflects her life, where nothing is certain. “It’s self-sculpting; I simply guide it along,” describes Matiko. “There are no sketches or plans. Canvas is the surface upon which I create the future with my heart, mind, and brush”.