VISUAL COMMENTARY: VESNA NICHEVSKA #1 Before I get back into the swing of writing, here’s another take on Vesna Nichevska’s art to satisfy my weird taste for visual analysis (or commentary, as dubbed in the more swagalicious title). The choice of the four pictures is more or less random, although perhaps I subconsciously chose some of those that immediately sparked my attention. When I analyze comics, pictures and art, I generally don’t want to dwell on them too much beforehand. It may sound weird, but when I’m writing about it, I want to go all in at that particular moment and just open my mind to it, so it comes off more pure, genuine, instinctual or whatever else you wanna call it. To me, it’s a toss-up between longwinded commentary and an on-the-spot analysis. At the end of the day, if you’re good at something or at least if you’re keen in a particular subject matter, you should be capable of both: explaining it in detail and giving the spark notes on it (if that’s still a thing). Hell, even if you shit the bed with your analysis once in a while, you’ll at least be nice and warm in the drizzle of your own rhetoric. So, without further ado and with much more beauty than Montezuma's revenge in mind, here we go! For all lovers of classic art, any rendering of Creation of Adam is a very notable and potent image. Over the years, this fresco has become Michelangelo’s most famous part of his world-famous painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Creation of humanity and all that good (and bad) stuff that followed suit will forever be a topic of discussion … even beyond religious notions. You know you’re dealing with a potent symbol, if the whole of Michelangelo’s masterpiece work has become summoned up or stylized by this depiction of Adam’s and God’s hand (almost) touching. As it pertains to Vesna’s drawing, she managed to capture the forms of the original. A lot can be said about the whole image, especially as God’s cloaked menagerie has been linked to actually represent the brain, adding reason and intellect to the religious dimension of the fresco, but that’s not really the point here. As the touching goes, there is obvious passivity in the left hand (Adam’s left hand), as the fingers are sloped or at least in a more normal/non-strenuous position. The right’s hand (God’s right hand … not the right hand of doom, sorry, Hellboy) with the index finger stretched out towards the first created (hu)man is the active part to the passive recipient of life on the left. In the picture of just the hands, Adam’s hand seems more elevated because it’s resting almost nonchalantly on his knee, but his wrist is lowered. Since the respective torsos have been cut, Adam’s hand may seem more visually imposing as it actually is, plus the fact that God’s hand is reaching to the left or “backwards” perhaps adds to the delusion of grandeur. As it pertains to Vesna’s drawing, she managed to capture the forms of the original. A lot can be said about the whole image, especially as God’s cloaked menagerie has been linked to actually represent the brain, adding reason and intellect to the religious dimension of the fresco, but that’s not really the point here. As the touching goes, there is obvious passivity in the left hand (Adam’s left hand), as the fingers are sloped or at least in a more normal/non-strenuous position. The right’s hand (God’s right hand … not the right hand of doom, sorry, Hellboy) with the index finger stretched out towards the first created (hu)man is the active part to the passive recipient of life on the left. In the picture of just the hands, Adam’s hand seems more elevated because it’s resting almost nonchalantly on his knee, but his wrist is lowered. Since the respective torsos have been cut, Adam’s hand may seem more visually imposing as it actually is, plus the fact that God’s hand is reaching to the left or “backwards” perhaps adds to the delusion of grandeur. Vesna captured the essence of the hands as they were intended (note, this picture obviously wasn’t traced). The beauty of her depiction is in the purity of the white background and just the black/dark gray of the hands, so you get the point of the hands across even better than in the original, where either Adam’s knee or cracks of the fresco in the background actually hinder the symbolism of the hands a bit … as if to say that you know that you are only seeing a detail of a much larger whole, so you want to zoom out, but as you do so, this monumental hand gesture gets lost in the shuffle of the rest of Michelangelo’s majestic interpretation of the Genesis story. Less has proven to be more once again. Continuing the divine theme, Vesna’s second drawing features an angel. (At least I’m calling him an angel.) The figure occupies the central position in this medium shot, with his extended wings in the X position, symbolically protecting his back and stressing his centrality in an X marks the spot type of thing. Or they might be extended to just fill out the picture and make it immediately clear they are in fact wings and the being is of the angelic kind … if his young, pure, angelic face wasn’t enough of a clue of course. His gaze is facing upwards, either towards God, the heavens or maybe to make him look a bit more exalted. Yet, while he may feel sublime, he doesn’t seem superior, which makes him more sympathetic. The shading is bottom-heavy and creates contrast with the upper part. The “angelic” whiteness above his head extends beyond his wings and his (and our) gaze, while his torso is “grounded” in his chiseled human form and lowered hands. Overall, a very clear, clean and uplifting picture. If I can make another segue, the contrast is even more apparent in the next picture, where the two black and white positive and negative halves form a close-up of (surely) a female face. Because of the stars and crescent moon on her respective cheeks, the first association here is with magic and the divine … which carries over the angelic theme from before. Although her eyes are half-opened, her look is a bit mysterious and strong, partly because of the contrast as well, since the focus in the darker left half is on the white pupil and white eyelashes, while the opposite can be said of the lighter right half. Since the eyes are half-opened, the eyelashes function more prominently, because they fill up the negative space directly above the eyelid and under the eye socket. The curved outlines of the face are also enhanced. These softer lines give the diametrically separated (and united) halves more balance and make the overall picture both stable as well as fluid. The fluidity is apparent in the tree-like structure stemming from her nose and like tree branches extending over the eyebrows (or rather forming them). The mythological context of the sacred tree functions as the central stabilizing force (axis mundi) of a culture … and yet can bend like branches in the wind or her gaze as she goes through the manifold stages and changes of life. The tears running down from the corners of her eyes also run down the trunk of her life-giving tree form, is a sense watering its hidden roots and providing fuel for life. The duality of her gaze thus continues metaphorically through the duality of her mournful tears. These tears function as the necessary energy that might enhance her third eye above on the forehead as the eyebrow branches split apart. This is another contrast between the stability, centrality and insight of the third eye and the tree branches that expand, separate and enhance the overall visual portrayal. Clearly, a picture that grips you with its gaze and captures your imagination. The last drawing analyzed in this post features a pair of dancers in emotional embrace. The dichotomy of black and white from the previous picture is contrasted here by the dance of the male and the female form, plus it adds the volume of color. If I go along the traditional definition of black and white as representing the respective absence and absolutism of color(s), red is the power that draws you in and connects you to the passion, heart and love portrayed in the picture. Both the large red rose and the woman’s dress (lady in red?) are what is immediately noticed, even more so than the form of the dancers engulfed in the flames of passion and movement. Given the woman’s dance move and the man’s outfit and the overall burning embrace, I’d say they are dancing tango, but that’s almost beside the point, because any form of dance can be passionate, especially if love is the main ingredient for the dancers in question.
The unity of red, black and white is the most potent contrast for my taste, because it connects the three most powerful and pervasive colors we have … plus, I’ve been a sucker for this combination since studying the expressionistic mastery of Hellboy. But back to the point: contrast of male and female, the yang-yin of passion, is enhanced through the male position in the background as the stabilizing, stoic force and the female embracing him with her leg, her more visibly expressive (“stretched”) position and a more romantic placement of her head on his shoulder. Also, her locks of hair embrace both of them and connect them to the white fiery locks of their background. A beautiful display of dance, love and art! Once again, thanks to Vesna for letting me use her art. You can find and follow her at: https://www.facebook.com/vesnaniche/
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November 2017
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