Elin Egoyane at ZRM Gallery

After strolling through some of the galleries at ZRM, I came across a collection by Elin Egoyane. From a distance the images seemed like photographs, but on further inspection, they were indeed paintings.Although many of the works are of a rather excellent quality, three, in particular, stood out from the rest.



The first image, entitled African Thirst, depicts a young African drinking from a very orange bowl. Not much in terms of storyline but the sheer contrast difference between the dark background and dark skin with the bowl is striking at first glance. Your eye is immediately drawn to the bowl and you spend several moments exploring it's details before you even move onto the rest of the subject.



The second work is Still Going Strong. is a simple silhouette of a man (or woman) surrounded by what looks like some kind of stone structure with some onlookers or passer-by's. One can only assume from the title that this person is of an old age. I tend to think that this person is of some importance because the onlookers seem to be following their travels with some interest (note that the taller ones in the back seem to bee peering just over the heads of the ones in front to get a look). As you can tell, the image has enough complexity that it offers the viewer multiple stories. One can only imagine what adventure this individual has set off to.



The final work is entitled Hunter Then and Now. The realism of this image made me stop and take a very close look. It seems so lifelike that is could honestly pass for a photograph. I am not much of a African culture expert so I will have to believe that this is a hunter. The fact that there is only one subject in the image (other than the statue, which would be an ineffective hunter) leads me to believe that the author intended to show that the hunters in this particular culture have not changed. The level of detail in the dress is remarkable. That is to say, the technical skill required to produce something of such quality is notable. The colours, the way that the lighting is faithfully reproduced that you can almost reach out and feel the textures are all of a high quality and shows the level of dedication made by this artist.

All of the works in this gallery use a pastel crayon medium. Elin is a Dutch artist living in the Netherlands. She also uses different mediums and formats in her work

Notes:

• Location: Lawst Paradise
• Dates: Undisclosed
• Prices: L$300 - 500