Blerta Xhomo, reconciling art with commercialism

There are certain thematic subjects in a painter’s artistic portfolio that he just can’t avoid but from time to time they keep occupying his mind and emotions. This is the case of painter Blerta Xhomo, where among her works one can admire some very nice landscapes. She started painting at age 10 and since then she has never been apart from the brush and canvas.
Themes
There are over a thousand paintings by Xhomo. Most of her paintings consist of romantic themes such as landscapes, flowers and especially human bodies, but she likes to define herself as a symbolist painter. “My work does not always represent what you just see in it. Most of the time a certain painting has a completely different meaning. For example, what you see as two fish might not be representing fish at all. If an art admirer can grasp the hidden message then I feel I did a good job, if not let’s just hope the viewer liked what he saw. It’s very difficult for an artist to explain his works because this would mean that he couldn’t get the message that he wanted through,” says Xhomo.
She has also produced an entire collection with Biblical themes where she depicts a symbolic Adam and Eve biting an apple. She also has created the dualism of persons which in one hand are strongly rooted on earth but on the other side they always tend towards freedom and blue skies. Xhomo’s paintings are characteristic because of the use of bright colors. “There’s not a particular reason why I use bright colors, I guess it’s just something inside of me,” explains Xhomo.
Influence
Blerta Xhomo says her work is mostly influenced by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. “He is my all time favorite painter. He uses a lot of colors too, especially the elegant gold”. The influence of Klimt can be noticed in a lot of pictures especially the ones portraying women but unlike the Austrian painter, Xhomo’s women are more subtle and in most of the cases surrounded by other objects. Blerta, just like Klimt uses symbols or symbolic elements to convey psychological ideas and emphasize the “freedom” of art from traditional culture. An interesting feature of Xhomo’s work is the use of clay pots and other traditional Albanian costumes or details. She says she finds the clay pots very sensual and feminine shaped.
Art in Albania
“Being an artist in Albania is very difficult. Even though things are somehow moving, especially for the painters with the opening of a lot of new exhibitions and museums, still people can not buy paintings. Firstly because of the economic situation and then because Albanians are not really interested in art. I think that’s why most artists have turned into commercialism instead of remaining true to their selves and their art, which is totally understandable because an artist of course needs money in order to keep creating and like many others I’ve been working in different fields not related directly to painting. But in my free time I always paint and this gives me the sort of freedom I want in my work,” says Xhomo.