What fascinates Adriana most about Versailles is the “meeting of two
dominant styles”: the monumental Classical Baroque of Louis XIV and the
light, floral Rococo of Louis XV, with its “pastel colors, floral motifs, and
romantic scenes.” Adriana “loves” these styles and strives to infuse them into
her work, using “gold leaf, metallic colors, classic details, and more traditional
brushstrokes.” This blend of theatricality and romanticism reflects in her
technique, incorporating subtle metallics and a palette that floats between
the ethereal and the dramatic. There’s an architectural harmony in each
composition—a reflection, perhaps, of the precision that comes from her
original training as a dental surgeon, now sublimated into art.
But it’s in the flowers that Adriana seems to find her most intimate language.
Roses, peonies, hydrangeas—all translated into watercolors that breathe
lightness yet carry the symbolic weight of history. Her “European Flowers” are
more than botanical studies—they’re silent narratives of an Old World where
every petal holds a secret.
For Adriana, flowers indeed carry “historical memories.” They allow her to
“travel through time,” both through their species—peonies and roses linked to
Europe, Versailles, the classical period—and through the artists who once
painted them, like Pierre-Joseph Redouté (evoking the classical and
scientific) and Monet (transporting her to the Belle Époque, the peak of
elegance, luxury, and art). Her botanical paintings, known as “European
Flowers,” are “highly romantic botanicals” that, in tone and form, convey that
“classic air that transports people to the Old World.” Roses and peonies, in
particular, represent Marie Antoinette—for their “luxury, aristocratic beauty,
and complexity.”
In her studio, Adriana recreated Versailles in her own way: surrounded by art
books, historical films, French soundtracks, and even perfumes with
aristocratic fragrances—all part of her creative process. Even the materials
she chose—French papers and paints with centuries-old tradition—carry her
intention to turn each work into a visual letter addressed to the past.
Viewing her art invites a reflection that goes beyond the canvas: Can flowers
hold memories? They can. Just as they can carry traces of revolution, the
scent of a royal court, and the atmosphere of a Paris that she, more than
once, has called her own.
And you? What memory would awaken in you while contemplating one of
Adriana Soares’s Versailles-inspired flowers?