Beautiful Summer 2016

Curator: Oil on canvas, dating to 2016, Reza Rahimi Lasko gives us "Beautiful Summer." Editor: There's something undeniably calming about it. The way the light filters through the trees creates this almost dreamlike quality, despite the quite real and carefully rendered scene. Curator: Note the subject’s gaze, cast downward at the small posy of red flowers in her hands. A representation perhaps, of inward reflection, or even a consideration of mortality, the fading beauty of summer itself? Flowers as vanitas, certainly. Editor: Or just enjoying the task. Look closely; the folds in her brown robe, the intricate pattern of her skirt – a labour of love to execute with oil paints! Consider the layers involved in building up that luminosity. What kind of brushes, and canvas preparation, would create this result? Curator: Indeed! And perhaps it's both— the tactile nature of creation imbuing even simple moments with a greater resonance. Brown and Gold robes worn for centuries have often had specific and meaningful representation. Editor: Is that pattern stenciled, or hand-painted onto the garment, I wonder? Those rich blues and golds feel culturally very specific, possibly referencing traditional Persian textile techniques that require highly skilled work to make the textiles, and then the translation of that textile to canvas. Curator: Yes! Cultural memory and continuity here definitely extend to the representation itself, perhaps referencing ancient traditions. Do we read her clothing simply as portraiture, or something else? I am thinking here of traditional depictions of feminine icons through history in near identical dress... Editor: Hmmm, you always go there, don’t you! Perhaps that link to textile manufacture offers insights into value assigned to craft within larger artistic traditions? Lasko seems to blur boundaries. Curator: Perhaps. I believe the beauty lies within these multilayered readings. This invites conversation between craft, painting and history and it reveals so much! Editor: Well, that’s definitely given me a lot to think about – another look at that robe seems called for.