Description
By Sergio Martinez, Spain.
This diptych deals with fear, ephemerality, balance, and profound beauty. The two paintings are designed to be exhibited back to back, so the viewer can immerse himself by looking at them from different perspectives.
Ephemerality is reached through the fleetingness of an instant, a brief slice in time, using an aerial acrobat in seemingly frozen suspension as a model. The fear factor is evident: How disturbing could the feeling of horror and disgust be while rats are walking over your body, unable to do anything about it?
Equilibrium is reached through a careful attempt at the symmetry of a body in tension, achieving an almost impossible posture that requires tremendous physical control.
Any physical reaction towards the rats would make her lose this fragile balance, so only the mind can fight back.
Beauty and elegance have always been present in Sergio’s work. This is how he reviews and investigates his perception of beauty and ugliness, attraction, and disgust.
Sergio explains: “With Las Ratas, I used the fear and disgust that rats have always provoked in me to question the nature of those feelings.
In the current context, where we are ruled by “I like it,” “I don’t like it,” or “it offends me,” It’s essential to point out that the depth of profound beauty is only palpable when it is contrasted with ugliness.
So ugliness must be accepted as part of our truth, or we will build a false and superficial self-image. I would like to believe that specific images might be able to help us understand what we reject and what we love.”