Don´t Lose Your Head 

Editor: This is "Don't Lose Your Head" by Tania Rivilis. It’s an oil painting, seemingly contemporary, and I’m struck by how the thick impasto creates a real sense of texture. The person's face is obscured by hands. What do you make of it? Curator: The hands, their placement…they speak to a profound struggle. Think about the traditional function of the hand in art, often symbolizing action, creation, even blessing. Here, though, they seem to actively repress, perhaps a self-imposed silencing or blinding. Editor: A silencing? Curator: Indeed. The closed eyes reinforce this. Eyes are windows to the soul, aren't they? Their absence forces us to consider what the figure is trying not to see, not to express. Is it societal pressure? A personal trauma? The universality of this image resonates through the ages. Editor: The title is "Don’t Lose Your Head." I initially took that to mean stress, but maybe it's more literal…losing your perspective? Curator: Exactly! Head as the seat of reason, of self-control. The hands become the physical manifestation of inner turmoil, attempting to contain something powerful, dangerous perhaps, something that threatens the established order, whether internal or external. Do you think the lack of precise dating changes how we understand it? Editor: Good point. Without a fixed date, the themes feel…timeless, more archetypal, than specific to an era. So this sense of internal conflict could belong to anyone, anytime. Curator: Precisely. It reflects the persistent human drama. This painting encourages a kind of introspection, urging us to confront the very forces, internal and external, that seek to silence us. The visual language has created space for self-reflection. Editor: I came into this thinking it was just a portrait, but now it feels like a mirror, reflecting deeper anxieties.