Mother And Child 2012

This is Aboudia’s ‘Mother and Child’, rendered with expressive lines over raw canvas. The dominant red is the colour of life, of sacrifice, of blood, of survival. Notice the figures: the mother, central, looming large and surreal, her features exaggerated, almost mask-like, alongside the child, drawn with a raw immediacy and an air of innocence. Similar figures appear in Picasso’s ‘Guernica,’ their wide eyes speak to primal fear and suffering. The faces evoke ancient masks used in rituals from across the globe, from Africa to Oceania, where the mask mediates between the physical and spiritual realms, expressing collective anxieties and hopes. Such images tap into our collective subconscious and the primal emotions connected with nurturing and vulnerability. In the non-linear progression of cultural memory, this recurs throughout art history, reappearing, evolving, and bearing new relevance in each epoch.