Oak Totem (from the Memory Pyramid series) 2010

Curator: Standing before us is Romul Nutiu’s “Oak Totem,” part of his “Memory Pyramid” series from 2010, an acrylic on canvas. What’s your initial impression? Editor: Disjointed, yet cohesive. The blues are soothing, but there's a tension between the abstract shapes and the title's suggestion of something grounded and ancient. It's like a memory struggling to solidify. Curator: Precisely. Nutiu's abstract expressionism is never truly without symbolic undercurrents. “Oak Totem”, the oak, universally signifies strength, endurance. Think of ancient Druids and their reverence for oak groves as centers of knowledge. The artist layers significance, drawing upon this shared cultural reservoir. Editor: And what do we make of the composition itself? The so-called totem is a spectral form, seemingly assembled from disconnected parts. Curator: Nutiu often employs the visual vocabulary of line, form, and color to explore memory's fragmentary nature. Memory is never a perfect reconstruction; it's a subjective, piecemeal affair, much like this canvas. That central shape is almost totemic, yes, yet porous, dissolving into the vibrant, fractured background. Editor: I'm intrigued by the colours—the dominant blues set against those bursts of umber, blacks and hints of orange. It creates a push and pull, a conversation between the tranquil and the visceral. Is there a specific social or political commentary at play here, given the work was created in 2010? Curator: Nutiu avoids direct political messaging, favoring more subtle social commentary through his investigation of shared cultural memory. His abstraction doesn't shy away from reflecting personal anxiety on both social and individual planes. Editor: I can definitely feel that underlying unease. It’s in the jagged lines, the almost chaotic energy that's just barely contained by the cooler tones. It prompts reflection about cultural resilience, what we collectively choose to remember, or, more accurately, how we re-member the past. Curator: Ultimately, “Oak Totem” offers a striking example of how abstract form can effectively convey powerful, lasting, cultural truths and introspections about time. Editor: A fragmented but tenacious memory carved in paint; a fitting reflection, really.