ast tuesday, having been to the gallery, i really liked your artworks !
It reminded me of an old story : some Roman general coming back victorious from the battlefield, with a slave behind him, putting a crown on the general’s fierce head while whispering to him… “Memento mori” (remember that you have to die).
Though, the story may be apocryphal, i still remind myself of this moral imperative backfiring during our most triumphant days.
Anyway, i was intrigued by the colors you gave to some of your drawings. It made some kind of “sense”, like the weather: everchanging and Chaotic by nature and yet organized , almost predictible in a strange fashion. I swear i didn’t take any LSD or anything
As children in Volgograd playing on the numerous construction sites in the city, we used to find human remains and ammunition from the Second World War. Once, I even brought home an unexploded mortar shell! The skull I have been drawing was found by my uncle, a doctor. It was always kept on the upper shelf of his bookcase, covered with a white surgical cap and I was very afraid of it. He believed it to be the skull of a very young soldier or even, judging by its soft features, of a woman.
In 1991, I came across the subject of the skull once more while working as a draftsman on the archaeological excavations of Kfar Ha-Horesh near Haifa where a magnificent and rare sample of Prehistoric Art was discovered: a skull with a plaster mask. Drawing flint tools and bones, I learned to see the beauty of geological, organic forms and a variety of natural textures. I began explore the ground at my feet and pick up the strangest objects. Gradually, I formed collection of curious relics from different parts of the world but the highlight of my collection is still, without doubt, this skull. It was the basis of my inspiration for a large series of paintings – the human face and skull contained within the square of the canvas but it is only recently, in Paris, that I undertook this series of drawings of “my” skull.
I never use photographs or other aids in my work. Only the direct interaction with the object allows me to play with the form, emphasize the important aspects, distort, flatten out the perspective. Usually, I do a first, fairly sketchy outline drawing, setting out general shape and direction. The second drawing from the same angle is as detailed as possible, showing even the smallest texture of the surface. On the basis of these pencil drawings and having “figured it out”, I start to work with ink or watercolour.
I began to look for examples in classical art: in the Louvre alone, there are dozens of images of skulls, most often on the theme of Golgotha, where the bones and the skull of Adam often appear at the base of the cross. I noticed that, as in my drawings, the angles of viewing the skull are often most unexpected, thus emphasizing human frailty. In my opinion, the skull is both the most complex and interesting organic object to draw and I am also fascinated by the abstract essence of its form. I transform the skull into a fantastic landscape – a kind of a planet with mountains, gorges, streams, fields, caves – a microcosm , a spaceship or even a-leviathan. As in the practice of Tai-Chi, where a daily repetition of the same movement allows, with time, to grasp its essence, a visual analysis of the skull through drawing, over and over again, reveals to me its unique harmony.
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23.06.2018 в 12:24 pm
ast tuesday, having been to the gallery, i really liked your artworks !
It reminded me of an old story : some Roman general coming back victorious from the battlefield, with a slave behind him, putting a crown on the general’s fierce head while whispering to him… “Memento mori” (remember that you have to die).
Though, the story may be apocryphal, i still remind myself of this moral imperative backfiring during our most triumphant days.
Anyway, i was intrigued by the colors you gave to some of your drawings. It made some kind of “sense”, like the weather: everchanging and Chaotic by nature and yet organized , almost predictible in a strange fashion. I swear i didn’t take any LSD or anything
30.04.2018 в 5:49 pm
As children in Volgograd playing on the numerous construction sites in the city, we used to find human remains and ammunition from the Second World War. Once, I even brought home an unexploded mortar shell! The skull I have been drawing was found by my uncle, a doctor. It was always kept on the upper shelf of his bookcase, covered with a white surgical cap and I was very afraid of it. He believed it to be the skull of a very young soldier or even, judging by its soft features, of a woman.
In 1991, I came across the subject of the skull once more while working as a draftsman on the archaeological excavations of Kfar Ha-Horesh near Haifa where a magnificent and rare sample of Prehistoric Art was discovered: a skull with a plaster mask. Drawing flint tools and bones, I learned to see the beauty of geological, organic forms and a variety of natural textures. I began explore the ground at my feet and pick up the strangest objects. Gradually, I formed collection of curious relics from different parts of the world but the highlight of my collection is still, without doubt, this skull. It was the basis of my inspiration for a large series of paintings – the human face and skull contained within the square of the canvas but it is only recently, in Paris, that I undertook this series of drawings of “my” skull.
I never use photographs or other aids in my work. Only the direct interaction with the object allows me to play with the form, emphasize the important aspects, distort, flatten out the perspective. Usually, I do a first, fairly sketchy outline drawing, setting out general shape and direction. The second drawing from the same angle is as detailed as possible, showing even the smallest texture of the surface. On the basis of these pencil drawings and having “figured it out”, I start to work with ink or watercolour.
I began to look for examples in classical art: in the Louvre alone, there are dozens of images of skulls, most often on the theme of Golgotha, where the bones and the skull of Adam often appear at the base of the cross. I noticed that, as in my drawings, the angles of viewing the skull are often most unexpected, thus emphasizing human frailty. In my opinion, the skull is both the most complex and interesting organic object to draw and I am also fascinated by the abstract essence of its form. I transform the skull into a fantastic landscape – a kind of a planet with mountains, gorges, streams, fields, caves – a microcosm , a spaceship or even a-leviathan. As in the practice of Tai-Chi, where a daily repetition of the same movement allows, with time, to grasp its essence, a visual analysis of the skull through drawing, over and over again, reveals to me its unique harmony.
Leonid Zeiger
Paris, May 2018