Nicolae "Nicu" Matei
a Roma settlement outside Sibiu, Romania
Nicolae "Nicu" Matei has dedicated decades of his life to the open roads of Europe, which he sees as arteries connecting communities. Living in a Roma settlement near Sibiu, he deeply values the ties of kinship and friendship that knit his community together, never once feeling the need to lock his door. His art emerges in the calm after long drives, informed by the subtleties he observes in life, like the nuanced colors in a bruise and the nervous dance of winter ice across a truck windshield.
About
Obsession
Exact yellow of a bruise three days old
Voice
Gentle hum of distant engine
Artistic Medium
Colored oils on salvaged truck parts
Technique
Scraping with a worn chisel
Influences
Long solitary truck journeys, communal Roma life, mechanical repairs
Materials
Rusty metal panels from old trucks
Scale
Size of a truck hood
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