Ela Marte: Psychology, Art and the Expression of the Unconscious

Por: @mashup.br

Marcela Caetano , known artistically as Ela Marte , is a talented Brazilian visual artist, illustrator and muralist. With a degree in Psychology, Marcela uses art as a means to convey emotions, stories and the complexity of life, incorporating existential reflections into her works. Her creations stand out for their vibrant colors and striking shapes, exploring symbols, meanings and references from Brazilian culture and the Portuguese language.

Source: Ela Marte

What does an artist do? For Marcela Caetano, creator of @ela.marte, the answer goes beyond technique. She believes that art is a profound process of self-discovery, a reflection of the connection between art and psychology, and above all, an expression of creative freedom. Her work today, with vibrant and intuitive lines, is a dive into the unconscious and Brazilian cultural identity, reflecting her personal and emotional journey.

Marcela graduated in psychology in 2022, but it was during her college years that she started to see art as more than just a hobby. Interested in Jung's analytical psychology and the concept of therapeutic mandalas, she realized the impact of drawing on self-knowledge and emotional expression. "Jung drew a mandala every day in his journal. He realized that they expressed a lot of what he was feeling at the time," she says. This early experimentation led her to explore drawing further, until, in 2019, encouraged by her mother, she painted her first wall at home. What started as a casual exercise transformed into ela.marte, her artistic project, which now occupies her full-time.

The Name and Meaning
The name of the project came about intuitively. "At first, it was 'Arte de Marcela,' but I wanted something more interesting," she explains. Playing with words with a friend, they came up with 'Ela Marte' – an anagram of her name, but also something that could be read as "she loves art" or even a reference to the planet Mars. "At the time, I was very into astrology, so Mars, which represents energy and drive, made sense to me."

MashUp: How did the name Ela Marte come about?

Marcela Caetano: In the beginning, I used 'Arte de Marcela' (Art of Marcela), but I felt like I needed something more engaging and unique. During a conversation with a friend, we started playing with words, and from that, 'Ela Marte' emerged. It's an anagram of my name, Marcela, without the 'c,' and it also connects with 'art.' The beauty lies in the different interpretations: many people read it as 'she loves art,' which is an interesting interpretation, but some see it as a direct reference to the planet Mars". At that time, I was very into astrology, and Mars, as a symbol of energy and drive, made total sense to me.What's curious is that, when I look at everything 'Ela Marte' has become, I realize that the process of choosing the name almost happened by accident. In the beginning, I just wanted something that reflected my essence and my passion for art in a more authentic way. So, this wordplay ended up becoming the identity I carry to this day.

The influence of psychology in Marcela's work manifests both in the forms and in the recurring symbols.

MashUp: Does your work carry deep meanings? Was this always intentional?

Marcela Caetano: When I started, my focus was very much on how art impacts our lives, especially mental health. If you look at my Instagram from the beginning, you’ll see that I talked a lot about psychology, exploring how art can reflect on our well-being. I used to create posts with phrases linked to psychological concepts. One of my favorites is "emptiness gives meaning to life," which comes from a psychoanalysis concept. My journey started like this, with this connection between art and psychology.

In my work, the symbol of the dive often appears, and this is related to Jung’s analytical psychology, which speaks of symbols as images that have meanings beyond their objective definitions. These symbols can carry universal meanings, which are common to a collective unconscious, but they can also have personal interpretations. This has always been something very present in my creations. The first collection I launched on the website, called "Symbols," brought a lot of this idea of images full of deep meanings, like the eye, which is a recurring symbol in my work.

But, as I allowed myself to explore my art more freely and matured professionally, I began to move away a bit from this rigidity. I started creating not only with deep and philosophical meanings, but also for the pure pleasure of creating, without the need to attach them to psychological theories. It was a process of liberation, understanding that art can also exist for pure creation, without always having to carry a specific meaning.

MashUp: Did your relationship with Brazilian culture influence this process?

Marcela Caetano: I didn’t have that strong connection to Brazil at first. I didn’t listen to much Brazilian music, for example. But, naturally, I started identifying more with it and began studying the culture, folklore, and regional symbols. This research culminated in the series 'Tropicália,' a celebration of Brazil’s fauna and flora, and in projects like with Moralist, in which I explored the five regions of the country. Yes, and from there I started developing other things, I liked that and then I kept creating others. And it was also a process of identification, you know, with my own culture. Yes, studying a bit more about Brazilian culture.

Source: Ela Marte

MashUp: Your use of colors is very vibrant. Has this always been natural for you?

Marcela Caetano: It’s funny because, at first, I made a lot of works in black and white, and I dressed that way too. I thought I was a very neutral person, but in fact, I’m not. Over time, I started realizing that I’m a very expansive person, and this reflected in my art. Nowadays, I’m much more colorful, both in my personality and in my work. Vibrant colors became a way to express this expansiveness and extroversion.

My artistic journey was also a process of self-discovery. In the beginning, I wanted my works to be clean and harmonious, with a certain control, almost like a need to keep things ‘clean.’ But this ended up restricting me. When I started allowing myself to use more colors, my art transformed, becoming more vibrant and free, reflecting more and more who I am.

With the growth of Ela Marte, she had to establish a separation between work and leisure. "When your hobby becomes work, it stops being a hobby a bit. So, I decided that my professional production would be digital, while the analog would be for more personal moments." Even so, she maintains her passion for physical works, painting walls, customizing objects, and holding creative workshops.

The practicality of digital also influenced her creative process. "It’s much faster. In digital, I can test, erase, and redo as many times as I want, something impossible in analog." But this speed also has a downside. "We lose a bit of the time of the process, the patience to create something from scratch, without the option to undo with a touch."

MashUp: I imagine that with so many ideas, there must be a certain selection of what to pursue or not. How do you decide when an idea is not the right moment to execute or when it should be set aside?

Marcela Caetano: I have a lot of ideas, but the vast majority of them end up not being executed. What works for me today is: if an idea comes up and I can put it into practice at that moment, I do it. To be honest, if I leave it for later, the chance of not following through is big. When I start working on something, I know that in the beginning, it’s going to look ugly or strange – it’s just a sketch, an attempt to see if it takes shape. Sometimes, the sketch doesn’t evolve, and I end up giving up. I tend to give up faster than insist because, when I see it’s not working, I think: It’s not worth continuing. But some of the best things I’ve done were precisely those that I insisted on. An example is an artwork I made called "Brazilian Sauce." The idea came out of nowhere, on a random night. I was thinking about Brazilian sauce, and the idea came to me to draw a pepper as if it were a sauce bottle. The first sketch was horrible, all scribbled, but I decided to follow through with the idea. I insisted, finished it that same night, and in the end, it was amazing. It’s one of my favorite works. But honestly, most ideas don’t follow this successful path.

The identification with her work goes beyond Brazilian borders. Many people living abroad share: "I’m on vacation here and I’m going to take this home because I miss Brazil a lot. It’s a way of having a little piece of the country with me." It’s like a hug, an immediate connection, as if they’re saying: "This person understands me, this resonates with me." It’s in this space that her art also touches people, because, often, I find myself in situations where I see something and think: "I’m not alone in this feeling. This is not something individual, it’s a shared experience."

In addition to her own work, Marcela sees art as a tool for reconnection. "Creativity is a muscle. If we don’t exercise it, it atrophies. When we’re kids, we draw, fantasize, create without fear. But as we grow up, this fades away." Her wish is to encourage more people to reconnect with the act of creating, without the pressure of necessarily being good at it.

"We give up hobbies because we think we need to be great at them. But we don’t need to. Creating is about allowing yourself to explore, make mistakes, experiment."

Por Rafaela Fornitani 8 de janeiro de 2025

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