Stefania Salles Bruins

Stefania Salles Bruins is a painter and a freelance legal advisor in New York City. In May 2023, she earned an MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art, where she received the Academy Scholar Award, the Henry Buhl Patrons Scholar Award, and a commencement award from the Bonnie De-Witt Fund. In the past few years, Stefania has shown her work at several artist-owned galleries in New York City. 

 

Before launching her art career, Stefania practiced corporate law at large international law firms for over a decade, focusing on private mergers and acquisitions. This ultimately led to her serving as general counsel to a global hotel company. "Advising sophisticated clients is a privilege", Stefania explains, "and the teamwork required to pull a fast-paced transaction through closing is exhilarating. Nonetheless, the positive aspects of that lifestyle were not enough to silence my ever-growing interest in philosophy and the need to make art. Now, being able to combine art, philosophy and the law has become my new challenge." 

 

When discussing her art, Stefania highlights: "Human interactions, ranging from our relationships with our own subconscious to relationships with each other, fascinate me. The compositions in my paintings originate from an analysis of moments in my life that I’ve had the hardest time processing. Diving into cultural idioms, stories, and philosophical texts, I wrestle with the feelings that keep me up at night. I paint on aluminum panels, which quickly became my favorite surface while I was experimenting with different supports. The inherent smoothness of the material means the paint application fully determines the final texture, while the glossy quality of the metal parallels the self-reflective content of my paintings."

 

You can read the accompanying thoughts to Stefania's pieces in this spotlight issue. More of her work can be viewed on Instagram (@stefania.bruins) and on her website (www.stefaniasallesbruins.com). 

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