The Raw Man
- Acrylic on Canvas
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37.4 x 24 x 0.8 in
(95.0 x 60.96 x 2.03 cm)
- $2,125
- Katarina Dordevic
Inspired by The Raw Man, written by George Makana, this painting research links to our ancestors and origins. Characters of the novel are initiated into a new, transcendent concept, through the fusion of fiction, myth and reality, whereby each story is a logical sequel to a previous and continues in the next one. Set of narratives, established by passage of actors from one existential situation to another, can be interpreted as an everlasting search for the truth about the secrets of our ancestry. Perception of this painting, as an object itself, is not influenced by an abstract, figurative or objective "representation" of reality, but of the observer's experience and it is subjective, ultimately. It suggests modified reality in which appearance of both, new and archaic are emerged on the surface simultaneously, through the contrasts between the simple, flat shapes and rustic, associative forms of armors and mask. My intention is not the creation of the illusion of the perspective, it is rather building the space by folding or diffusion trough different layers of acrylic paint. Transparency of the shapes moves them from the back to the forepart of “The Raw Man” painting. Asymmetrical balance of these forms is transformed into an abstract expression of ancient, universal and essential.
Inspired by The Raw Man, written by George Makana Clark, writer and professor emeritus from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, this painting research relations with the past and our origins. Uncertainty, insecurity, curiosity of the characters of the novel in their everlasting search for the truth about the secrets of their ancestry are symbolically represented on the painting by the roughly structured greyish white mask on the contrasting orange background, the spears, the ceremonial bowl and textural patina of the surface. It is an homage to Makana’s research of the book' s main Rhodesian character's origin and its reflection on the contemporary life.
- Created: 2011