In Bloom

One day I was carrying a square canvas in my hand, holding it for the middle part of the wooden frame. It was tilted, like rhomboid and I felt a little bit like Captain America holding his shield. I am lying, I felt totally like Captain America holding his shield and I liked it. So I thought to myself, maybe I should paint it this way. I had a “small” canvas 80x80cm in my studio and I had a black frame for it, so I put on the frame, placed it on the wall, just to feel how it was going to hold. And it was strange, but good strange. I noticed that canvas placed like this needs to have the center of composition within the center of canvas with variation only in vertical line. If the center is shifted on horizontal line, a painting will always feel unstable.

Recently I was watching the video of the song In Bloom from Nirvana with my son, and we both went a little bit nuts. It is really funny when you are watching it with almost 10- year – old kid rolling on the floor laughing. A multilayer grungie-pop song that questions itself, a listener, a ridiculous video, experienced through my son’s laugh, lessened heavy memory and eased my teenage (grunge/Bosnian War) age. So I decided to give you some questioning. Another hanami window, tilted, because everyone loves Japanese cherry blossom, even if they

don’t know what it means, and I say “Yeah!”

Most of you don´t know that Japanese cherry is naturally noninvasive specie; basically it doesn’t produce offspring easily, but since it has been promoted by Japan as peace sign it became human spread invasive species. Since it has been cultivated only for decorative purpose, fruit is undeveloped and  inedible.  So really, it is not a fruit, it is overgrown ikebana. During WWII kamikaze took sakura as their symbol, usually painting flowers on their airplanes, or taking the branch with them to the death. It has been said that dead pilots are reincarnated as sakura, a bit morbid, since they are doomed to fall back to the ground and die every year. And it is also allergen therefore one of the major cause of allergic rhinitis in spring.  People are rarely aware about this negative history and this aspect of Japanese cherry.  So with this knowledge you should take broader approach to your “blossom viewing” and not be bound by sakura, just appreciate and enjoy blossom of your local/natural species. Maybe something that will bear edible fruits.

To emphasize the depth and multilayer lyrics of In Bloom I experimented with the thickness of outline in a way to preserve flatness of the painting and at the same time to give the fleeing sense of depth. Lower part of the painting I left empty, to create a path for your eyes to follow, and it is the ending near the center of canvas. Above the center is a full weight of bloom. And you have to carry it.

Technique: acrylic on canvas

Size: 113 x 113 cm

Year: December 2019

Availability: In Collection of
Foundation “Center Duga Art”


Japanesque

 

Paintings done in Japanese style. Mostly variations and fusions of famous Ukiyo-e prints, global pop culture & sakura.