'The Now'

In ‘Stolen Bunch,’ Donovan depicts a salmon pink cylinder decorated with an image of a hand grasping a bunch of wildflowers. The simplistic rendering of the imagery and the use of block colours creating a sense of flatness make this piece appear with a cartoon quality, evoking a sense of childhood and fun.

In this more minimal composition, Kyveli has depicted the eyebrows and hairline of a figure peeping over the top of a large blank newspaper that obscures the majority of the face. Elegant fingers grasp the edges of the quotidian with pink painted nails. There is a humorous irony in the title of the painting matched with the blank paper in the way the figure appears to be hiding from daily life using a newspaper, that although may seem dominating of bad news, is actually totally blank, leaving the viewer the impression of the feeling of pointlessness that many of us may feel from time to time when encountering the brutality of life through the often tragic news stories of the press. The newspaper takes on the largest part of the canvas, relating to a blanket covering over the figure, aiming to represent the notion of safety under a cover and search for a "cozier place."

An emphasis on a stressed scene appears from this composition. Two pairs of hands attend a broken marble column that lays on a blue table. One hand is pointing at the scene of the damage, while the other holds a burning cigarette, revealing neglect for the "accident." The figures represent the two opposite sides: The one who cares and the one who doesn't. A fragment of cultural heritage lies broken into two pieces aiming to portray the responsibility of society to protect its history and inheritance. Kyveli's choice to represent hands as a symbolization of the human touch in this process reaches its zenith in absolute contrast with the recurring symbol of the cigarette- for her, a portrayal of a time, as the smoke burns, leaving the ashes of our choices behind, while a broken cultural artifact now faces a new fate -that of a ruin.

Several figures are found gathered around a table in a heavily pressured scene. The title is inspired by the symbolization of the hand that points forcefully to what appears to be a contract lying on a blue table, while the paper fades away behind the smoke of a burning cigarette leading the eye to yet a third figure that hides in the background, that symbolizes the hidden intentions of this potential "agreement." Although the main focus of the composition is designed to be around the objects that lie on the table, the secret gesture is revealed on the left figure, whose body language contrasts the rest of the scene with its opposing posture. An appealingly modern woman wearing bright colors is set, almost denying the assumed proposition, as she is being pushed by the unseen hand of the middle figure and eventually forced to be part of a supposed signing process. Her hands are big and uncomfortable as she is holding a glass of water with one, as the other puts pressure on the table. She is painted in the last moments of her decision to grab the pen lying on her rich side as she contemplates the right decision of the appearing consignment. 

In this surrealist-esque image, a thick black pipe depicted as if made of a malleable material such as silicone twists and turns in a very neat pile through the center of the painting. The muted colours of the background with the rust-red and beige provide a subtle base to allow the jet black central object to contrast with. The added tuft of grass growing in the sand-colored foreground adds a flash of bright green to the muted tones painting.

In this surrealist-esque painting, a thick black pipe is depicted as if made of a malleable material such as silicone cuts bends in the shape of a rainbow. The background of blue skies and idyllic clouds, with a sand foreground and a tuft of bright green grass, provides a subtle backdrop for the jet black pipe.

‘To Goddess’ is a painting from Weronika’s Be Afraid series. Thick multicoulored swathes of paint twist and turn in this image, creatinga sort of vortex shape where the colours become lighter towards the center, almost as if a light were shining from the very core. Resembling a flower, with connotations of female genitalia represented in such a peaceful and beautiful manner, the imagery alludes to the beauty of the female form without the objectification and traditional viewpoint of the male gaze.

This three-part set of paintings, triptych, is part of Weronika’s The Goddess’ body series. The paintings are filled with gradients of reds, yellows, greens, blues, and purples. Each painting flows in the next when placed vertically on top of one another. An abstract nude female figure, the goddess, rises up through the triptych in an expressive and powerful depiction of the female body. The confident and luminous atmosphere of the image echoes Weronika’s notion of her paintings being “filled with light and peace.”

‘Polish Fighting Bitch’ is a painting from Weronika’s The Goddess’ body series. A fury of blue tones applied in thick oil paint fills the bottom right corner of the canvas, depicting a growling canine, the ‘polish fighting bitch.’ A thick cloud of lighter blue tones sweeps upwards from the dog’s mouth, almost like steam released in anger. This strong and furious imagery contrasts with the tranquillity of the non-descript background represented in soft beiges, pinks, and a flourish of green.