Bahamut
200 x 120 cm
Oil on canvas
2021.
TRANSANIMALIA
These painting comprise the Transanimalia series which portrays different fantastical animal beings, creatures that went through unpredictable transformations under the influence of their environment. They reflect internal and external metamorphoses and mutations. Since ancient times, hybrid creatures have inhabited stories, myths and legends. They possess archetypal power and are an integral part of humanity’s collective consciousness. Stories about animals and their characteristics often serve as a reflection of human life.
Rather than illustrate animals, my intention for this series was to depict them as mental representations or ideas. An idea is a perception that forms in our consciousness on the basis of memory and/or imagination, without the presence of an external structure of stimuli that its content relates to. Different ideas cause different thoughts and feelings that, in turn, affect our behaviour. My ideas are relatively vivid and develop spontaneously through the process of projecting content onto the canvas. Playing around with the transposition of the figure and the background, I gradually change the form to better suit my inner representation. Interestingly, transposing the figure and the background results in what was initially secondary taking on the main role, becoming central and dominant. The task then is to provide the figure with a new background that will either support, conceal, strengthen or counter it.
Through these depictions of animals, I also explore the idea of wilderness. This word can signify the part of nature untouched by humans, nature that we rarely set foot in, the dangerous, inaccessible, threatening nature that at the same time inspires, excites and relaxes us. On the other hand, wilderness can refer to a state of mind as well as a physical space. Is it a state in which one is unburdened, uninhibited and free? Or a state of chaos and disorder that needs to be tamed and sorted? To us, animals who live freely in nature are wild. I am interested in how that wilderness reflects on the contemporary human condition and how we can nurture and explore the wilderness within us.
Ribik
200 x 120 cm
Oil on canvas
2021.
Ekimmu
200 x 120 cm
Oil on canvas
2021.
Sika
200 x 120 cm
Oil on canvas
2021.
Uwimabi
200 x 120 cm
Oil on canvas
2021.
Barasingha
160 x 120 cm
Oil on canvas
2021.
