Curtsey 1993

Dmytro Kavsan created "Curtsey" with oil, maybe over a long period of time, as the image is built up of many layers. I can imagine Kavsan building up the figures slowly, intuitively, letting the paint guide him to strange places. The way the female figures morph into landscapes is so surreal and intriguing! Each character contains a world, like a walking diorama. Are they greeting each other or is it a face-off? Is the beach on the left a place of vacation, or a lonely shore? The rock face on the right, so solid and imposing. I can imagine the artist using a brush to carefully describe the cliff face, or the flock of birds in flight. Perhaps Kavsan was influenced by Surrealism, or maybe he arrived at this on his own - who knows? Maybe he wanted to merge landscape and portraiture in a bizarre, uncanny way. Painting lets you ask "what if?" or "how about?" and keeps artists in conversation with each other. Each painting embodies this process of call and response.