The Palmizana Cultural Summer continues. New exhibition from October 1.
The new cycle of paintings by academy-trained artist Tatjana Politeo poetically entitled I Was Dreaming of Faraway Vastness… introduces us to a miraculous world of the mystery of the endless universe. The title itself hints at the intertwining of dreams and reality, that is, the fusion of the great unknown of the mystical universe and the earthly world known to us.
This cycle was initially inspired by an article about the universe in an old issue of Life magazine, while the photographs from the article were used as the basis of the painting in the making. The space dunes whose shape is occasionally reminiscent of pyramids and the patina of the old magazine’s yellowed pages inevitably make us think of David Lynch’s cult film of 1984 Dune – the Desert Planet. Like a mysterious world of endless deserts, Tatjana Politeo creates her own planet shaped by an unusual combination of dominant black, white, and grey surfaces with hints of earthy tones and bright yellow accents. A specific harmony of unusual colors creates a special surreal atmosphere typical of Sci-Fi films of the 70’s and the 80’s. The universe defined as the totality of everything that exists, including space, time, matter, energy, planets, stars, and galaxies, is rendered on the artist’s canvas through the contrast of multitudinous events in the painting’s vacuum. Working with collage, painter’s plaster, acrylic, graphite, and oil pastels, Tatjana Politeo creates a world of pictural atmosphere, uteral surface, and rich, dynamic composition. Canvasses feature figurative collage cutoffs with abstract indications of scenery interspersed with various weathering factors. Several techniques are often used to convey a single motif. Thus, spiders are rendered in graphite on some canvases, in white color in others, while ellipsoidal shapes are often started in collage and finished in pastel, acrylic, or graphite. Pronounced but not in the least bit superficial esthetic of the paintings is achieved by means of many interesting details dynamically moving within the composition. Marked gestuality of strokes, spontaneity and expressiveness, as well as unorthodox relations between elements, create an impression of child-like fascination with the vastness of the universe. Yellow accents give a dynamic quality to subtle tonal nuancing of greyish and bluish shades emanating from the black mass, while the daubs of silver and gold, visible only from a certain angle, are directly responsible for creating a mysterious atmosphere of the unexplored planet. An array of visual sensations on the surface of the planet – uteral, reflecting, coloristic – create a surreal atmosphere of an imaginary planet where life as we know it today is yet to appear or where it disappeared a long time ago. It is a world of simple forms of life filled by gasses, vapors, mists, winds, and rain.
The endlessness of the universe, that is, the immeasurability of its space and time is rendered in an open composition. “The ongoing frame” is not closed at the sides; rather, mists, clouds, and rain seem to be passing through the interpreted vistas and moving on. A simple, child-like rendering of the spider freely fills the surface of the canvas, while the pictorial expression in some motifs does not follow the photo-clip display as the artist uses free interpretation to finish the suggested shape. In addition to mountains and spiders, ellipsoidal forms appear as another leitmotif, creating a continuation of photographic sand dunes on some canvases, while looking like growth rings or unidentified flying objects on others.
The unexplored and endless quality of the universe allows for maximum freedom of creation and interpretation with certain references from the real world. The artist’s spontaneous and sincere artistic achievements give shape to a new and unexplored, yet unusually attractive and interesting world in which, for the first time, the main protagonists are not animals or inanimate objects but an unusual blend of the universe and the elements from the earthly nature. Tatjana Politeo takes us to the world between dream and reality through an adventurous journey of releasing brakes, liberating borders, and surrendering oneself to the pure visual experience of playful and ludic imagination.
Sonja Švec Španjol
prevela: Valentina Penzeš
www.prijevodi-etnotrend.hr
