camouflage series | painting | large drawings | soldier series | sculpture | mixed media
| In the Camouflage Series, I wanted to express the consciousness of us, individuals, being part of a bigger unit: camouflage as a dress for humanity as a whole, as an element of the landscape. All the works in the series, as with other pieces that deal with soldiers and weapons, are somehow a reflection on the media; they are based on images from the press. Such images have been and are still, quite abundant these days. The idea of camouflage is in itself a very painterly concept. In my painting, it has developed into bushes of flowers (tropical flowers, another subject recurrent in some paintings of mine) and the idea of bucolic landscapes. I never have been interested in painting landscapes for the sake of it, yet now I discover myself thinking to incorporate the notion of traditional landscape and camouflage, and to incorporate the latter into the former. 'With Many Thanks to John Moore and Acquaintances', as in other works of mine, implicit contradictions are present: bushes of flowers, with their warmth, are bucolic and inviting, yet several life-size men carrying weapons are also present, staring at us, the viewers. This piece in particular shows certain sculptural qualities. Being too heavy to hang from any wall, the diptych sits on a timber beam with its portal-like quality and life-size figures, it feels almost like an installation, drawing in the viewer with its menacing beauty. |