Artist Statement
sThe subject of plants/organic imagery has always
intrigued me. Even as a young art student, I always drew
organic subjects
from life. It was instinctive and what sparked my interest.
Many years later
, when I decided to pursue a fine art career, without being conscious
of it,
I gravitated to
similar subject matter. The only difference was that my years
as an art director
had continued to
train my artistic eye, so my drawings were more developed. Still,
I'm always trying to
find another way
to look my subject to develop a deeper understanding of going
beyond the obvious.
The key is to keep
growing, evolving as artist, and interpreting nature in a new
way.
I started working
on this series after having drawn several hibiscus flowers in
full color using pastel.
I was attracted
to the flower because of its shape, especially fully bloomed.
I find it intriguing that
when the flower
has wilted, it wraps it's petals tightly around its stamen then
falls to the ground.
Becoming fascinated
with the different shapes of the wilted flowers I started to
collect them,
searching for the
most appealing and uniquely shaped.
Utilizing the collected
flowers, I decided to draw each flower on a scale much larger
than
life in order to
attempt to pull the viewer into the image. Each flower appears
upside down, as if in
the process of
falling from the plant. I chose to work in black and white feeling
that the absence of color
would enable the
viewer to go beyond the representational aspect of the work.
My goal was to
arouse the viewers'
intellect and to allow them to make their own interpretations
of the drawings.
I also have explored
this imagery in oil on canvas; utilizing the silhouette of the
hibiscus and the space around it.
Here a flower is
no longer a flower, but rather a metaphor for life, love, sexuality
and loss.
"Hibiscus Entice" Oil
& Wax, 5'X7
Copyright 2003/2007
Barbara Kolo - Do not use images without permission.
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