A Meeting of Souls in the Work of Artist René Romero Schuler
The concept of "grace" hidden in fragile strength...
In the thick matter of color, between slits of light and strokes of the palette knife, a silent and powerful humanity takes shape. René Romero Schuler, an American artist born in 1968, creates faceless yet deeply recognizable female figures. They are contemporary archetypes, suspended between fragility and strength, between the weight of the past and the desire for healing.
Her works — oils on canvas and wire sculptures — do not scream, but remain, engraved in the flesh of the material as in the memory of the viewer. And of those who feel it on their skin, as in their veins. The dense and instinctive impasto technique seems to sculpt more than paint; each layer of paint becomes a gesture of reconstruction, a spiritual act.
"My figures are my champions", the artist says, "they are the forces that give me balance, strength, reassurance, and peace". In her artistic practice — deeply intimate and spiritual — many dualities coexist: grace and awkwardness, pain and rebirth, the universal and the personal.
René seeks not to represent the face, but the soul. A featureless body thus becomes a mirror for everyone, an emotional space in which to recognize oneself. Her women are "a lot of me, but also a lot of everyone", and for this very reason, they manage to strike a deep, ancient, collective chord. Even grace, for her, is not a starting point, but an internal goal: not a gift, but a constant quest for balance.
After moving to California, the artist began "to feel the earth beneath her feet", bringing the landscape into her canvases. In her new works, the monochrome background gives way to more vibrant backdrops, as if nature — after years of visual silence — wants to make itself heard.
She recently held a major solo exhibition at the Zolla/Lieberman Gallery in Chicago and is preparing for new exhibitions, including a solo show at Westbrook Contemporary in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Her research continues to evolve, remaining faithful to a gesture that is painting, prayer, and shared memory.
In this encounter, René Romero Schuler recounts her story, intertwining life and art, memory and spirituality. Her words — like his paintings — don't describe, but evoke. And it is in this evocation that, perhaps, we find a little of ourselves in her every step, in her every gesture. In a world that — it seems — no longer cries out details, René chooses the silence of the sign.
How would you describe your artistic language to someone who has never seen your work?
I am an abstract figurative painter and sculptor. I primarily work with oil on canvas, employing a technique called “impasto”, which is a wet-on-wet layering of paint using only palette knives to create thick and heavy surface texture. The work I create is all female figurative, including my steel wire sculptures.
All of these female figures are my champions—they are the grounding forces that give me balance, strength, reassurance, and peace.
In your statement, you mention "personal experiences and human connections" that influence your work. How is your personal history present in your work?
Each piece tells a story all its own, beginning with a sort of re-telling of any number of colorful, traumatic, challenging stories from my life, and I incorporate a lot of current inspirations, too.
The result is always a figure that embodies a narrative that has helped me to unravel, loosen, and heal past troubles, as well as bolster my courage and confidence in the present. They are constant reminders that we are all inherently beautiful and strong, even when we might not feel quite so.
Your figures seem faceless and universal, yet profoundly intimate: why and what do they truly represent?
One of the greatest experiences in life is to encounter a work of art that stops you in your tracks and evokes powerful emotion because of how you viscerally connect to it in a deeply personal way. At least, this has held very true for me. Finding a bit of myself in a work of art has been powerful in that it has made me feel seen, heard, and understood.
My figures are indeed a lot of me, but they are also a lot of everyone. Adding overly discernible characteristics would make them too specific and would distract from their meaning and purpose.
Many of your female figures seem suspended between strength and vulnerability. Is this a reflection of the contemporary female condition or a more intimate representation?
I think that all I do is very intimate. There are so many dualities that I am balancing day to day—as so many of us are—so I would say this is a very personal practice. However, I do believe this idea of the suspension between vulnerability and strength is something that we all truly experience, and it’s important for me to address that in my work.
Do you have any particular rituals or habits when you paint?
I need a very tidy, uncluttered space—physically and mentally—so I first take care of paperwork, emails, texts, etc. I make sure that I have something to drink and a good playlist ready, and then I sort of meditate to connect with my mood and energy.
This guides me to a color. That becomes the background color palette for the piece I will work on, and as I work, the figure takes shape.
How important is the spiritual or transcendent dimension in your artistic journey?
Very! I am a very spiritual person, and that plays a part in how I connect to my practice and the resulting works.
Looking at some of your works, what do you think of the concept of "grace"? Is it something you've ever sought or felt in your artistic process?
Honestly, the only time I think of the word “grace” is in the context of creating a figure that I would deem “graceful,” which is something that comes up a lot for me, because, in my reality, I have always been considered the opposite of that—clumsy. Again, I am always working in ways that help to counterbalance what my energies are, or my shortcomings, or fears, etc.
Are you working on any new projects or artistic series? Can you give us a sneak peek?
I moved to California three years ago and discovered how much I love hiking. I am hiking several times each week, and this is something that is coming up in my work. My backgrounds have always been deliberately singular in tone, but some of my newest works have a lot more going on!
Interview by Fabio Pariante, X • Instagram • Website