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Unpacked; then slowly began to play.
Portable People, marks, old, current, destruction, evolution
This serie is comprised of paintings that have a few layers, sometimes done in different periods of time.
The first layer is a figurative painting that already existed, or a textured background.
Another layer is a background or a human figure created from wrapping materials — used to wrap my materials when I moved from US to Switzerland, last year — or from local newspapers.
A third layer is a web-like drawing that covers the painting.
Portable People
Unpacked. Familiarized myself. Then started to play.
We unpack. What happens to the packing materials that supported our belongings so preciously? Don’t they deserve to be upgraded to a higher level of value?
I unpacked. Then I started using the wrapping materials. Did they carry my memories of the past? Probably.
I started reading the local paper when I became more comfortable and more familiar with the new place. Then I started using it on my people.
Then I started to play with marks.
Marks
We’re here to put our marks and to communicate. Communicating can be written. But what happens when we don’t understand the writing? Writing becomes an imagery that doesn’t mean anything concrete. My marks are green, blue, ... and rough. They are not naturally beautiful. They cover paintings that need to be destroyed to be better. Destruction becomes evolution, because the new does not cover the old completely.
The marks are done in an automatic, spontaneous way, without esthetic concerns. Magically they become esthetic and marry the composition behind them.
Alina Mnatsakanian
November 14, 2006
