The lakelet shadows 2018

Editor: Here we have Soltan Soltanli’s “The Lakelet Shadows,” painted in 2018, a scene rendered in acrylics. The immediate impression is one of a whimsical, dreamlike landscape – almost like a stage set. What pulls you in when you look at this painting? Curator: For me, it’s that very stage-set quality you mentioned! These lollipop trees and the perfectly round ponds… It feels like a memory, slightly warped and sweetened by time. There’s a naivete, bordering on the surreal. The composition dances between flat planes and hints of depth; like looking at a child’s drawing, infused with a sophisticated understanding of perspective that the artist chose to downplay. Do you get that sense of playful artifice, too? Editor: Absolutely! The “cartoon style,” as one tag calls it, gives it a kind of innocent quality. But, the more you look, the more calculated those choices feel. The placement of the birds, the shadows... It’s too deliberate to be truly naive, right? Curator: Exactly! It's what I like to call “knowing naivete." The artist knows they are simplifying, knows they are exaggerating. It’s like they’re asking us to question what we expect from a landscape. Is it about realistic representation, or is it about capturing a feeling, a memory? The rigid, geometric structures add another layer. It gives off both a soothing, calm vibe, and makes me ponder that human imposed control on nature! What will that mean to us? It makes one question our place on earth, in such a stylized way. Editor: That makes perfect sense. I initially just saw a cute painting, but now I'm noticing the commentary. Curator: And isn’t that the joy of art? It invites us to look deeper, to find those unexpected layers of meaning. What was once “cute” now holds a mirror to our own relationship with the natural world.