Anna Canary

Instagram

Your “Beyond Fruits” series beautifully blends vibrant colors with ancient symbols. Could you elaborate on the meaning behind the symbols in your work and their connection to universal themes like growth and transformation?

In my work, ancient symbols are more than just decorative elements — they carry meaning, history, and blessings. Many of these symbols come from traditional crafts and designs, deeply embedded in the culture of my ancestors. They appeared on everyday items like spinning wheels, ceramics, and wooden boards, as well as in architectural details like roof carvings.

What fascinates me is that these symbols were not only aesthetic but also protective, acting as talismans, blessings, and amulets. They carried wishes for family well-being, harmony, and abundance.

The spiral symbolizes eternal growth, the cyclical nature of life, and inner strength.

The sun represents the source of life, power, and renewal, reflecting our potential.

Earth and seeds symbolize fertility and the beginning of a new path, embodying the life cycle.

Feminine energy is depicted by the moon, symbolizing intuition, gentleness, and creation.

Masculine energy is represented by the fir tree, associated strength, protaction, stability, and upward movement.

Prosperity is a symbol of stability, luck, and harmony, often depicted by a diamond.

Through my research, I’ve discovered that many of these symbols share similar energies and meanings, regardless of whether they originate from Mayan culture or other ancient civilizations. Despite cultural differences, they often convey common themes.

I see these symbols as a bridge between the past and the present, a way to bring their protective energy into contemporary life.

Anna Canary | Not just a Orange

How has growing up surrounded by nature in a northern village and now living in vibrant Florida influenced your artistic vision and choice of colors?

My life in a northern village shaped my intuitive perception of the world. Surrounded by forests, fields, and simple natural forms, I learned to find beauty in even the most ordinary things, those that might go unnoticed at first glance. This connection with nature and love for all living beings instilled in me a sense of unity with life.

Intuition plays a key role in my work. Even when the painting contains only a few simple shapes, they speak for themselves — they are clear and accessible to everyone.

For me, bright colors are like doses of joy and energy. Perhaps this is because I grew up in a place where winters were filled with snow, and in summer, nature appeared more restrained. I’ve always longed for bright colors, and now they help me convey emotions and energy.

Moving to Florida was a turning point for me. Here, I realized I could no longer delay my creative ambitions. Bright colors became an essential part of my art, and Florida’s multiculturalism inspired me to see the world in a new way.

You describe your work as being part of the “Dopamine Series,” aiming to evoke joy and vitality. What role do emotions play in your creative process?

The “Dopamine Series” brings bursts of joy and vitality into everyday life. Psychologists often say that bright colors spark positive emotions and energize spaces.

What makes this series special is its universality — anyone can find a fruit that resonates with them. These fruits become metaphors for individuality and self-expression. My goal is to create pieces that people not only admire but feel a personal connection to, evoking their own joy and energy.

I named it the “Dopamine Series” because these vibrant colors are meant to trigger a positive emotional response, much like the way dopamine affects our sense of happiness and motivation.

Anna Canary | Not just a Fig

Your work features a strong interplay of texture and abstraction. How do you decide on the textures and materials to use for each piece?

In this series, I aim to convey the sensation of fruit pulp through a combination of glossy and matte textures. Each detail invites the viewer to “touch” the painting with their eyes, feeling its depth and textures through their gaze. The smoothness and roughness, light and shadow become tactile for the eyes, as if they are running their fingers across the surface.

The golden outlines play a significant role, like a soft glow that gently transitions into a story that unfolds through symbols. These contours represent the unique worth of every individual, with the gold symbolizing the light and value that radiates from them.

The broken lines and geometric shapes in my work are meant to give the fruit a more abstract form, moving away from smooth curves to angular structures.

The “Beyond Fruits” series explores themes of personal growth and cultural diversity. Can you share how your background in graphic design has shaped the way you approach these themes in your art?

In graphic design, the main goal is to convey a clear and specific message that is understood in the same way by everyone. In art, however, each viewer has the opportunity to interpret the information in their own way, through their emotions and experiences. Drawing from my design background, I aim to create compositions where elements have a clear purpose, but also leave space for personal interpretation.

Furthermore, just as in graphic design, where text serves as a direct means of communication, in my paintings, symbols play a similar role. They create not a direct, but a multilayered message, inviting the viewer to search for and find their own meanings.

Anna Canary | Not just a Kiwi

How do you see ancient symbols as a bridge between different cultures? Have you encountered any specific symbols that resonate with your personal journey?

Ancient symbols often transcend cultural boundaries, acting as a bridge between different traditions and ways of thinking. For me, symbols like the spiral or the sun are universal and appear across many cultures, representing themes of growth, renewal, and life force. These symbols remind us of the common threads that unite humanity, even though each culture interprets them in its own way.

The spiral, for example, is a symbol of eternal growth and cyclical nature, and can be found in cultures from ancient Greece to Native American traditions. It’s a visual representation of continuous evolution, which resonates with my own journey as an artist, constantly evolving and growing in my work.

For me, ancient symbols are not just elements of decoration but powerful tools that connect different cultures, forming a shared language of meaning that transcends time and space. They help me express universal concepts like transformation, prosperity, and strength—ideas that are fundamental to human existence, no matter where or when one lives. These symbols invite viewers to reflect on their own understanding of life’s cycles and their place within that larger, interconnected story.

Why “Beyond Fruits”? What inspired you to create a series that uses fruits as a metaphor, and what is the deeper message behind it?

When I moved to Miami, I was immediately captivated by its vibrant mix of cultures. Coming from a different background, I found myself surrounded by people with unique stories, traditions, and ways of seeing the world. At first, it was overwhelming—every person carried a cultural code that felt unfamiliar to me. But over time, this diversity became a source of inspiration and joy. I started to see the beauty in these differences and how, despite our varied origins, there is something universal that connects us all.

This experience became the foundation for “Beyond Fruits”. To me, fruits are the perfect metaphor for individuality and shared humanity. They are diverse in shape, texture, and color, yet they all grow through a similar cycle of life. Each fruit in my paintings represents a person—a unique, vibrant being shaped by their own experiences, yet part of a collective whole.

The juicy textures and bold colors are not just about the fruits themselves; they are a celebration of people, their identities, and their vitality. The series invites viewers to reflect on how, like fruits, we are all unique in our essence but deeply connected in our growth.

Living in a city like Miami, I’ve learned that we thrive when we embrace the differences that make us who we are. This series is my way of honoring that diversity while reminding us that, at our core, we are more alike than we are different. It’s a visual reminder that, no matter where we come from, each of us has the potential to grow, transform, and shine.

“Beyond Fruits” is about celebrating the vibrant individuality of every person and finding unity in our shared human experience.