Betrayal 2018

Soltan Soltanlı painted 'Betrayal' with oils, I’m guessing around 2018, judging by the signature. Look how he’s built up the grassy hill in the background and the field in the foreground. I can imagine the physical act of painting – how his hand moved with the brush, sometimes delicate, sometimes firm. I wonder what Soltanlı was thinking as he painted these figures. They're all on horseback, traveling somewhere, maybe? Except for the two slumped over, not quite dead, but certainly out of it. The guy with the bow and arrow is still alert but he gives me the creeps! He is about to betray the others and I feel nervous looking at him. It’s interesting how the shields worn by the men are almost cartoonish; they look more like targets than protection. Painting is like that, though, isn't it? It's all about layers of meaning that change with each stroke of the brush. And, for me, I think it is about trying to reveal something about human nature.