17 3/4 x 17 3/4 x 12 3/8 in
Raluca Arnăutu's art world is inhabited by a whole supernatural bestiary that descends from her phantasms within a synthetic and syncretical artwork and at the same time, she reveals a transcending of reality in a fantastic universe. Old boxes are reconverted in mini-installations. From the boxes pop up a fluffy face, green carnivorous plants or colorful flowers. The Surrealist objects tell a personal story in the framework of an unusual association of textures and materiality. The found boxes are the ones that initiate the story inside each box. The artist is fascinated by the mystery that you feel when you encounter an old box and what you can find inside.
The artist's collages describe a series of faces composed of different materials - cardboards, textiles, fur and paper. In this series, figure deconstruction is a desideratum. The characters are born from the deconstruction and subsequent reconstruction of the figures that are discovered through the titles of the works. The titles are inventive handling of letters and words, like in a play game, as anagrams, in wordplay or word machines. There are specific correspondences between the wordplay and the character that it represents.
The series of drawings is a reminder of the "temps perdu" of childhood. Each drawing refers to a specific feeling, place or animal from a fairy tale. Often the situations, the vegetal and animal elements are mixing themselves creating a fantastic atmosphere.
In the same way as composing her images, she takes elements from the different worlds to create the tapestry and the textile objects. The artist's artworks outline a world where you can no longer distinguish between reality and dream.
Curator: Diana Dochia, PhD
