Omaggio a Mirò

The mosaic portrait of Joan Mirò is the result of the intersection of gazes between the subject immortalized in a photo and the student executing it who, to create it, had to enter into a relationship with the Spanish painter, deepening his art and personality.

This portrait is therefore the interpretation of a photographic image: the tiles, of different sizes and shapes, and the trends reproduce the features and physiognomy of the face represented. The mosaicist’s empathy with the subject he must describe is expressed in the solutions used: from the thickness of the tiles, to the choice of colors, from the evidence of the lines to the width of the joints. If it is taken for granted that in the portrait the features of the protagonist are respected, it is not obvious that it is possible to convey the inner charge and character of that person. This is the main challenge in portraying someone. Thus, by interpreting a mosaic face, the student enters in some way in symbiosis with the subject and animates it also according to their own way of feeling and perceiving it, increasing, in many cases, its seductive power. For example, note the rendering of Miro’s eyes with those two round tiles that give light and enliven the gaze.