Cosmic Wedding 1982

Sabin Balasa built this world out of oil paint and imagination. The painting has a fantastic tree-like structure framing lots of nude figures in a dreamy landscape. It’s so surreal! I can imagine Balasa building up the surface with layer upon layer of thin paint, pushing figures into the foreground and background, making everything glow with this otherworldly light. Look at the lovers embracing in the center. The gesture is so tender and the colors seem to emanate from within. Balasa's figures remind me of Blake or even Chagall. You get the sense that he’s riffing off these artists but also discovering something very personal. His painting is a conversation that stretches back and forward in time. Like all paintings, it's not just a picture, it’s a record of someone thinking and feeling, using paint to work through something. I can see and feel him trying things out, taking risks, and embracing uncertainty. It's like he is wrestling with the biggest questions, and, in the end, comes to a place of mystery and awe.