“Droning in Ecstasy”
Linocut, 2019
Québec, Canada
The image is composed of a reception of old and new symbols such as the transfigured body of Christ from Old Master’s works and drone machines. Like with the body of Christ, the drone machine symbolizes the desire to overcome human nature and see the world all at once. Thus, the work proposes that the medieval equivalence of a drone is Christ or “God’s eye view.”
The work does not have a narrative in a modern sense, however it merges the symbols through the movement of lines that may suggest a state of ecstasy. It invites for reflecting on how human desire for omnipresence manifest over time.
Website | Instagram | Facebook
I’m primarily a painter, and I received art education in Romania, in Canada. While I’m teaching art history courses online now for Ottawa School of Art in Ottawa and Concordia University in Montreal too. So before moving to Canada, I grew up in a communist post communist era next to Nero, Romania. So in this context, context I in this visual culture, I have seen a lot of Byzantine icons and political propaganda images from Ceausescu’s fortress to icons of Christ, Virgin Marian saints. So my passion for art making developed in the Romanian art school and university system, which put a big emphasis on representational drawing, and the traditional methods of making art such as printmaking, mural painting and sculpture.
[This] piece entitled, “Droning in Ecstasy” is actually a small section of a larger lino cut, what do you see is just a fraction of a larger piece. And the way I printed this was by cutting a small square like 10 by 10 centimeters into a piece of white paper, which I placed over the large liner plate to extract only that particular area. So the rest of the image is hidden from you. So this print looks quite large, I see you on the computer screen because you can magnify it. But if you observe this in reality, you will notice the fine lines that I have carved using a magnifying glass. And the indentation left on the paper on the plate by the page on the paper is is very beautiful to observe. So the computer screen goes against my initial intention for the print is you can act as a magnifying glass, you can zoom in on it without seeing the indentation of the plate. And so this is a big concern. Big artistic concern for me. It takes the magic the tactile feeling from it. Yeah, so. But anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing the print in person in the show. — Adrian Gor
Read more about the larger artwork »
