15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in
"A nose that can see is worth two that sniff." - Eugen Ionesco
The Game of the Absurd
"Unfinished piece in a defined frame" is of a new series of collages created by the artist Raluca Arnăutu between 2019 and 2020. To a certain extent, the series continues the concerns of the series "Deconstructions" of 2018, but in the new collages series the message and the manner of representation leads to a much wider area of formal and compositional quests. In the collages signed by Raluca Arnăutu we encounter not only a simple workshop where certain characters are made from overlays, compositions and recompositions using various materials; instead, we see how in front of us a laboratory is being built, in which the key meanings of various interpretations are experienced.
The artist's collages initiate a dialogue with the viewer, either in a direct, interpellative sense, or an indirect, contemplative dialogue of inner searches and questions. There is a continuous game which the artist maintains with the viewer my means of her works: her characters only say as much as needed, as they are surprised in a deep moment of metamorphosis. Thus, the viewer goes through a double sense when reading the work, which highlights the symbolic character of the structured language within a new universe. Somehow the artist splits, so that each created character becomes a mask of a real or imaginary alter-ego. Characters come and go before our eyes, as they come to life as a result of a series of events and situations - The Antiquarian, The Accounting Women, The Pharmacist, The Magic Producer, The Poker Player, etc. - are generated organically from the desire of knowing all the subtleties of human nature. As in a play by Eugen Ionesco, the artist's works are densely structured within a provisional timeframe.
Each work is accompanied by a suggestive title, a title which takes over within its text the internal structure of the collage. Texts are often made up of fragments or combinations of suggestive words - The One Who Saw Nothing, The One Who Sold His Mind, The Man Who Sees Everything, The Origami Seller, etc. The association of words, materials of various textures and small plastic objects - dice, wheels, Lego pieces - creates juxtapositions where text and image merge, emphasizing the value of the created compositions. The fragments of material which form the collage, as well as the words in the titles can be changed, their order being often subjective, as the works always combine the artist's concerns and intentions.
Within her artistic projects, Raluca Arnăutu has developed her own language of communication with the viewer, revealing authentic ways of expression and analysis. Her characters engage in mute dialogues and invent possible worlds, in a world devoid of logic and hope. It is the dream that sets the artist's imagination and sensitivity in motion.
Curator: Diana Dochia
