Totem 

Editor: So, here we have *Totem* by Ion Pacea, created using mixed media and acrylic paint. The composition, with its bold colors and simple shapes, almost feels primal. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The title, *Totem*, suggests a link to ancestral representation and ritual. Look at the arrangement of these almost architectural forms. The artist seems to be constructing a visual language where color and shape carry significant symbolic weight. Do you see how the blue perhaps acts as a grounding force? Editor: Yes, it frames the other elements. I'm drawn to the interplay between the flat areas of color and the gestural brushstrokes. What does that suggest? Curator: Perhaps the tension between the symbolic and the individual. The totem is a communal symbol, but the expressionistic brushwork injects a personal element. The red, for instance, could represent vitality or even warning depending on your own cultural associations. It triggers subconscious connections. Do the colors evoke particular emotions for you? Editor: The red does feel powerful, a bit aggressive. I’m curious, is there something about Pacea’s background that informs his choice of totemic imagery? Curator: Consider Romania's history, steeped in folklore and Orthodox religious iconography, where symbols have long served as a bridge between the earthly and the spiritual. He would have absorbed these cultural codes. The abstract style lets him tap into those archetypes without direct representation. Editor: It’s interesting how abstract art can actually be so deeply connected to cultural memory. I initially saw it as just colors and shapes, but now I recognize something much deeper. Curator: Exactly. Recognizing recurring visual themes and our responses to them throughout time is a way to understand how we're all connected, both to history and each other.