Between March 4-17, 2026, the Order of Architects of Romania – Bucharest Branch hosted the mosaic and painting exhibition entitled "Female Plastic Representations", which brings together the works of two plastic artists: arch. Raluca-Ioana Enăchescu and Matei Enric.

The opening will take place on March 5, 2026, at 6:00 PM and will feature Ms. Mimi Necula, journalist and art critic, as a guest.

If recently, in December of last year, the Romanian Parliament adopted the law declaring March as Women's Month, "a period dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the contributions of women in Romania in all fields of activity", the exhibition "Female Plastic Representations" is timely in this context and aims to illustrate the influence of the feminine principle on plastic creation.

The exhibition presented works whose starting ideas, message, symbolism and communication are achieved with the help of feminine representation. ,,Eclipse”, ,,The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”, ,,Solve et coagula”, ,,Mother Nature”, ,,The Sanctuary”, ,,The Primordial Elements” are the titles of several works presented in the exhibition, which, although they take you to other areas and have no direct connection with femininity, the artists chose the feminine representation as a representation of their ideas.

Femininity has always been a very fertile subject for artists, in their attempt to make a connection with a vital force given to people through women, which gives hope and purpose to existence. Woman, the portal through which the future comes into being, symbolized the eternal rebirth of nature, the continuous struggle of life against death and darkness!

Throughout history, women have had a strong representation since prehistoric times through the mother goddess of fertility (Venus of Cucuteni, Fertility Goddesses from Isaiia, etc.). Amphorae, with their graceful shape imitating the female silhouette, kept, during the winter, in their womb, the seeds that would bear fruit in the spring. In antiquity, in addition to maternity and beauty (Isis, Geea/Gaia, Aphrodite, etc.), the female deity was attributed other areas of influence, such as war, justice (Athena, Themis or Justitia, etc.). With the transition to Christianity, the Virgin Mary represented the purest being in the world, which made her chosen to give birth to the Savior. In addition, many women, martyrs, myrrh-bearers, saints (Mary Magdalene, Empress Helena, Mother Teresa) were added to the cult of the Christian church. All these female figures have been represented by artists throughout history through various forms of plastic expression: ceramic statuettes, frescoes, sculpture, tapestry, icons, paintings, etc.

The two artists, Raluca-Ioana Enăchescu and Matei Enric, are brought together by the form of plastic expression of recomposing an image from several pieces or pieces. On the one hand, we have the mosaic technique, which creates images by joining colored ceramic or stone pieces, which Raluca-Ioana Enăchescu approaches, and on the other hand, the technique of painting on wooden fragments that creates an ensemble, a way of expression of the plastic artist Matei Enric.

Raluca-Ioana Enăchescu was born in Bucharest in 1974, she is a graduate of the School of Music and Plastic Arts no. 2 in Bucharest – piano section, class of 1988, of the University of Architecture and Urbanism “Ion Mincu” in Bucharest, class of 2000 and of the Bucharest School of Art – Interior Decoration section, 2016, and between 2016-2018 he mastered the secrets of the watercolor technique within the group “Picătura de aquarelă”. Since 2018 he has been a member of the Union of Visual Artists of Romania – Branch Association of Religious Visual Art and Restoration and of VISARTA.

He began his career in the field of fine arts at the end of 2014, under the guidance of artist Elena Borundel at the Bucharest School of Art. He experimented with several working techniques in his works - mosaic, wood carving, papier mache, weaving, textile collage, Tiffany stained glass, painting and engraving on glass, etc. - successfully combining them on different working media, but his favorite technique remained mosaic.

She had a rich artistic activity, both creatively and in terms of exhibitions, participating in group exhibitions (Annual of Religious and Restoration Plastic Art, Guild Celebration, etc.), biennials (Blue Biennial, "Lascăr Vorel" Plastic Arts Biennial, etc.) and national plastic art salons in Romania (National Salon of Contemporary Art - SNAC, National Salon of Medieval Art, Small Plastic Art Salon Brăila, etc.) and group exhibitions in Italy, appearances in catalogs, mass-media articles, in the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Romanian Artists, volume 8, benefiting from specialist criticism and being appreciated in 2019 with a "diploma of excellence" in Piatra Neamț, within the "Lascăr Vorel" Plastic Arts Biennial, where she participated with a watercolor. Some of her photographs were published on the website www.b365.ro in the articles signed by Miruna Bărdulete from the series “Bucharest – subjective through objective”.

She organized five personal exhibitions: “Seasons of creation - initial searches”, an exhibition of mosaic, watercolor and other decorative art techniques, in 2017 at the Galeria Occidentului in Bucharest, “Allegory”, a mosaic exhibition, in 2018, within ARCUB, at Hanul Gabroveni - Arcelor Hall, Bucharest, “Return to origins” a mosaic exhibition, in 2020, at the “Lascăr Vorel” Art Gallery in Piatra Neamț, “With eyes in the sun through Bucharest - domes” a photography exhibition in 2024 at the Order of Architects of Romania - Bucharest Branch and “Bucharest Panoramic”, a graphics exhibition, watercolor and photography - commemorative exhibition in memory of her father, arch. Mihai-Gabriel Enăchescu, in 2025, at the Order of Architects of Romania - Bucharest Branch.

She also had a brief journalistic activity, writing articles/impressions for the website www.ideon3d.ro .

More information about the artist can be found on the blog www.raluca-ioana-enachescu.blogspot.com or on the Facebook page Raluca-Ioana Enăchescu-pagină de artist.

 Matei Enric is, born on January 14, 1978, a graduate of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Bucharest, in the Plastic Arts - Cultural Heritage section (fresco restoration) and a full member of the Union of Plastic Artists of Romania - Religious Plastic Arts and Restoration Branch Association.

His works are of the ensemble type, consisting of several wooden fragments that recompose an image as in a puzzle and create the sensation of an archaic monumental painting. This type of painting-ensemble creates a connection with the environment, by integrating the space that circumscribes the work (the wall, the vital space around the image), which is inserted into the work, thus becoming a compositional element. The image is no longer enclosed in a clear form, limited by edges, but expands, surpassing its frame and combining with the exterior. It is like a restoration of the fragment. The boundary between the work and the space that surrounds it dissolves and thus becomes part of the environment, achieving a stronger impact on the viewer.

He has been an artist for 26 years, participating in over 70 group exhibitions in the country and abroad (Serbia, France and the United States) and has organized 15 personal exhibitions in Romania.

Works by Matei Enric are in the collection of the Romanian Parliament, in the collection of the Neamț County Museum Complex, in the collection of the Raška Art Museum, in Serbia, in the collection of the Bucharest Metropolitan Library and in private collections in Italy, the USA, Hungary, France, the UK and Romania.