Idols

'Idols,' by Katarina Dordevic, Acrylic on Canvas, Painting, 2011

This 24.41" x 33.46" acrylic on canvas painting by Katarina Dordevic features an abstracted depiction of the landscapes at the Volcanic Natural Park of Cabo de Gata in Andalusia, Spain.

"One of the most attractive landscapes in Andalusia, Spain, the Volcanic Natural Park of Cabo de Gata, with its highly unusual, semi desert, filled with cactuses, arid plants and huge stony structures, gave me the inspiration to create this painting. These natural forms reminded me on idols who worship the Sun and cheers its everyday rise. Their play and joy in honor of a new day have become the focal point of the painting, on which the movement of the shadows and the light were performed through overlapping layers of colors, similar to collage.

Inspired by numerous similarities between cultures, traditions, religions, people and faiths, this
piece juxtaposes fragments of our modern environment with forgotten archetypes. Bearing in mind that ways of communication in prehistoric times were not developed as nowadays, it leads us to conclude that the similarities between primitive artifacts are rooted in primary, non-mimetic, and the essential substance of human nature. Resemblance of prehistoric artworks could be found in their rudimentary shapes no matter as they refer to Eastern, Northern, Western or Southern civilizations. Through a combination of Idol of Venus from the Old European culture (4500 BC) rising the sun and our inner psychological space represented as a geometrically organized composition, this painting explores elements of spirit, which an individual often neglects in his attempt to adapt to our hectic modern tempo." -- Katarina Dordevic

Katarina Dordevic is a painter, printmaker and full time professor of painting, born in Nis, Serbia, where she currently lives. She graduated and post graduated from the University of Arts in Belgrade (MFA in Painting, 1994) and is currently undertaking a Fine Arts Doctorate at the same university. Katarina has an academic career spanning more than 18 years at the University of Nis in Serbia and she has been artist-in-residence and guest lecturer in Fine arts at the Fundación Valparaiso in Spain, the 33officinacreativa Foundation in Italy, the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen in UK, the University of Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria and the Akdeniz University in Turkey.

Her works has been exhibited in a number of solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe and Asia and her paintings, drawings and printmaking are included into public and private collections. She has received various awards for the artistic achievements in Serbia, Canada and Czech Republic.

Katarina’s creative practice takes the form of paintings, drawings, printmaking and objects. The experience gathered during numerous travelling to various countries and places has been huge source of inspiration for her artwork, which pointed out some similarities between cultures, traditions, people, faiths, and differences, as well. Nature phenomena, reflection of light, atmosphere of local places and patina with which the archaeological remnants are covered influenced her art, therefore vibrant, rich textures outspread compositions of her paintings. She constructs intimate, private and personal interior from the elements of the world heritage and myth narratives and puts it in the contemporary context, emphasizing its universal symbolic potential.