The exhibited works present us with a polychrome and white abstractly conceived paintings which were created by pondering upon the same motive. Motive in a certain sense of the word since we cannot discuss the meaning of motive as a traditional concept. It has more to do with form which having been analytically treated is enlarged, split down and brought closer to the viewer. It is a form which is pulled into the content which seduces our consciousness and makes us think in terms of parameters of the same yet changed, thus enlarged and therefore new. The initial „small painting“ served as an inexhaustible vocabulary of visual signs and meanings. In that sense, the painting is a birthing tissue which constantly perpetrates new possibilities from within, thereby presenting a completely new visual creation. In a special relation with form we recognize continuity and the artist’s need to show that a once touched upon idea needs to be valuably processed and the process itself needs to be continually processed. From dedicated, focused work on the painting itself a new idea arises of another visual entity from the previous. What is actually going on is the other from the same in Baudrillard’s sense of the word. The initially created „small painting“ is a platform or background which simultaneously enables the work to not only in one part open up a labyrinth of possibilities but also to uncover a new plane which can often produce a much more significant idea in the sense of concept and value. The thus presented zoomed picture or penetration into its texture brings us to reflect on yet another post-modern postulate of constructing artifacts which is a quotation with differences, i.e. repetition with differences as was noted in the theoretical articulation of Dubravka Oraic-Tolic.
Yet another characteristic of the presented works is the artist’s affinity towards drawing, and to be more exact, towards the line as some sort of guide which circles, describes and creates a form. In a drawing which is created in that manner, the process is recognized as an especially important part of work. Each PROCESS as well as this one is an ACTION. A drawing thus created is anything other than accidental, on the contrary, it is a product of actions and is treated as part of a more complex process. Of course, the drawing is an inseparable part of the whole and is especially brought out in the white models, thus suggestively creating a network, i.e. skeleton of the picture. The view of the viewer follows the contours, its multiplication, multi-layered aspect, thereby the layering of the drawing. That is how the concave-convex projection is created which constantly draws the viewer’s view inwards, via a point into the texture of the painting, while simultaneously drawing the view towards the physical edges of the canvas. The painting expands and demonstrates its intention to potentially occupy the space which surrounds it. Therefore it is executed as an abstract non-figural all over which turns into a vibrating tissue filled with data and numerous visual points which create an illusion of mild movement.
In the process of creating the drawing and all that encompasses a drawing such as contours, the relation between said contours is exemplary, something that needs to be created and maintained. The drawing is complicated in its multi-layered sense due to which the artist insists on precision and on the harmonization of contours. They create a whole imaginary archipelago of docile banks, oval forms or smooth strokes. The constellation of the elements is not randomly depicted but is instead a nurtured composition, an attained harmonization of contours which have been executed in an extremely painstaking way. The visual context was realized by mediating on the drawing of the „small painting“ and transferring the slightly irregular parts from that painting to another canvas. Relief in the small format is a significant decision in the process or procedure. The application of a number of colored layers, drying and disposing of the layers to a low relief leads us to a leveled out model of alluring tactility. A work thus created activates yet another receptor sense, the sense of touch. It is possible that the entire process is felt in the sense of touch. Also, the moment when the artist stops taking off parts of the relief is also indicative. Scraping, sanding, removing colored layers is followed by polishing the remaining layer which are all attributes of the procedure.
One instance of the artist’s work is the PROCEDURE, and the other which presents itself are the STEPS. This needs to be differentiated since the steps of the creation which require precision can hardly handle a mistake. The steps lead towards the formation of an idea, towards the beginning and finalization of the painting, therefore, towards the end. The answer to the question of how we can find such a coherent and connected opus can be found a number of years before since such a preconceived painting has its genesis. While still a student the artist started to perceive a monochrome, non-uniform (the layers on certain parts of the paintings are not even) painting field. The idea was also conceived in the early formation of a network and its modifications. Therefore, it is possible to think of a painting as a consequential work of art created from a previous fine arts entity. In the presented works each painting originates from the previous visual and processing experience whereby the artist expertly and extremely skilfully presents the breakdown of a single painting or similar state of the painting on the basis of which an entire cycle is formed.
In order to truly perceive the process we need to note that the artist’s relation towards color is also significant. Color is something we search for, and it is also necessary to maintain the achieved colored hue. The contact of the colored separates is significant, as is the interaction of colors and the wider communication of the colored fragments. Color presents a rarely remembered example and is evenly applied to the surface. As though the brush is no longer in use and instead certain technical digitals witticisms were used to create the painting. As opposed to the above, in large formats, the artist uses surprisingly thin brushes. The procedure therefore finds a reference in miniscule processing and perseverance. Such manual precision requires time and concentrated and dedicated work. Beside that the procedure also demonstrates a paradoxical position – the hue of the picture is defined at the very end. The unexpected background is painted last. Sometimes the colored layers are manipulated with. Often the artist is dissatisfied with the result and paints over entire layers, painting from the very beginning. Therefore, the painting unfolds gradually. It is a result of the found process or procedure and gradualism.
The process of creating such a painting is therefore all the more significant because it is manually and independently achieved and realized with long-term dedicated research which is a special treasure.
Katarina Radulović translated by Biljana Ačkovski