Chez Rita

Here’s “Chez Rita”, a new artwork created by Dominic Virtosu in late autumn 2025. With this piece, the artist worked incessantly for two days to achieve an “à la prima” result of striking visual beauty - where all the oil paint is worked-into one unified layer of material.

In this work, Virtosu takes an unapologetically figurative approach: it features a view of windows and plants as seen in the hallway from the artists’ studio entrance.

In it, the painter explores his relationship with his immediate environment - an observation of daily life through his own perception. The window panes seem to be interrupted by the metallic structure of the industrial design of this former waffle factory - symmetrically evolving lines attract the viewer into this universe where a rich plant life now exists.

“My work on this painting was very much based on instinct. I was interested in the immediate universe around me. I wanted to make the process count more than the result - it represents a break with the result focused painting style that I previously relied on. I wanted to trust that the process would be taking me into new territory.”

Giving painting the actual chance to evolve as it is produced. A summary of the process would be “working in layers of addition and subtraction". By revealing what is underneath, the objects above appear contoured into reality.

“There is an intrinsic element of chance playing into it. Imperfections that this technique forces me to accept - they challenge my control and rationally focused mind.”

“Chez Rita” 200x150cm, oil on canvas, 2025