Anxiety 2017

Curator: What strikes me immediately is the incredibly detailed rendering and layering—the meticulous cross-hatching suggesting a real intensity of labor, of process. Editor: I feel the emotional weight even more intensely. The piece, titled "Anxiety," created by Daria Theodora in 2017, encapsulates a powerful sense of unease and introspection through its combination of portraiture, organic elements, and mixed media. Curator: You say unease—I'm drawn to the contrast between the fragile beauty of the flowers intertwined in her hair and the rough, almost graffiti-like texture in the background. How do you see that relationship functioning? Editor: Precisely! The flowers could symbolize a desperate attempt at masking the internal turmoil. But the tear running down her cheek and the anguished expression tell a different story. It speaks volumes about the pressures and performance of emotional well-being. Curator: And the figure’s hand? The tattoo design upon it? Is there something about its execution—about its presence on the surface of the piece—that resonates with you? Editor: The delicate linework of the tattoo hints at stories etched onto her skin, representing identity and lived experience. And notice how intimately the wolf is nestled, offering comfort and support, or maybe, guarding a part of her psyche that society rejects. Curator: What interests me is thinking about what that mixed-media actually *is*. Paint? Ink? Are those really *petals*, collaged, built up to make a flower? Each application, each material choice… what is *doing* there? Editor: Perhaps the medium is deliberately blurring the boundaries between our inner and outer worlds. Think about that. The fact that the painting utilizes the conventions of both fantasy art and expressionism reinforces the idea of the surrealism we experience when suffering from acute emotional states. Curator: All that texture—labor!—pushing against this rather flat presentation—foreground against background—it really destabilizes things… Editor: Absolutely, a visual embodiment of the chaotic experience of anxiety itself. Curator: Seeing how those layers intersect, considering the work—the labor—required to build them… that adds an element of gravity that one misses at a first glance. Editor: Indeed. The painting becomes a poignant commentary on our times.