Description

Edition of /35 + 5 AP. Screen print and oil stick on paper. Hand-finished, signed and numbered by the artist. Keaykolour Uncoated Virgin Pulp White 300 g/m2 paper. 70 × 50 cm. Silk was the only material that Mata Hari used to cover her body while she danced, together with the gold that completed the illusion. This edition is a mimicry of her performances as a dancer. The uniqueness of gold, the beauty in her image, the fragmentation of her personality – those elements "dance" over the silk, a reference to oriental culture from which she drew inspiration for her dances. In the edition printed on paper, the photograph was digitally edited, separating it by tones in order to create several screen printing screens. Next I created compositions on the paper, alternating between layers of screen printing and painting with oil sticks. In the edition printed on silk, I printed the photograph on several transparent sheets of plastic film, taking advantage of the characteristics of this material to create a new composition that served as a matrix for the final piece. The advantage of using either of these two techniques is the capacity to be able to "paint" with static images. It also serves as a metaphor for the way I use and superimpose historical facts, philosophic theories, and artistic licence in order to compose and create parallel realities.