Extinction of Wisdom (the Sphinx) •

2021

oil, chalk, oil pastel on board

50x70cm

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The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth—it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true. (Jean Baudrillard, 1981) 

There have been examples of simulacra dating from the classical culture of the ancient world - centaurs, satyrs and other such anthropomorphic or zoomorphic mythological creatures.  (Boyko Iliev, 2015) 

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These works explore the sense of calm within the chaos, with an underlying attention to the unravelling of space-time within the collective and personal subconscious, while visual inspiration is found in mundanity - park trees during an afternoon stroll, a scene from an old film, a gallery interior, an ancient statue, a passage from a book, a painting by a late artist. It is through painting that I am able to unravel the existential speculations which permeate my thoughts day by day - these thoughts move around, they take shape and colour, they morph through mutual interaction.

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Simulacrum is the process of psychovisual metamorphosis: from that which is seen, to the mind; from the mind, to the image; from the image, the eyes and minds of others. "Reality" becomes distorted by the prism of one's senses, perception and the mind itself. What remains in the end and comes out on the canvas relays a version of "reality" which no longer exists and, in fact, never did. [...] it is the truth which conceals that there is none. 

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