LINA IRIS VIKTOR; GOLD AND DARK MATTER.
By Nii B. Andrews.
Lina Iris Viktor disavows a center and insists on her autonomy.
She also insists on formulating her visual narrative or story based entirely on her own bona fide perspective of the human experience.
For the purposes of officialdom, she is classified as British-Liberian; has traveled extensively – lived in London and Joburg and studied widely and formally in several top schools.
Viktor is famous for her mammoth black and gold works on paper or canvas.
She eschews the contemporary focus on gold as a luxury item and or a marker of financial muscle.
Rather, Viktor probes gold purely for its symbolism and elemental nature.
In doing so, she reminds us with poignancy of the sacred nature of gold in Asia and in West Africa.
Therefore is she in her art nudging us towards or hinting at the philosophical and protoscientific traditions associated with gold?
Does her work reference the Great Work of Alchemy – the Magnum Opus; as there were renowned women alchemists; Mary, Cleopatra, Medera, Taphnutia and Euthica?
Shall we be able to decipher from Viktor’s work the 4 stages; nigredo (blackening), albedo (whitening), citrinitas (yellowing) and rubedo (reddening/purpling)?
The black in her paintings references “dark matter” purely as an astrophysical entity – the primary material from which the universe was birthed.
Dark matter it is believed formed a “scaffolding”; then normal matter in the form of galaxies and clusters followed the concentrations.
By utilizing cutting edge digital enhancement techniques and the ancient water gilding techniques for gold she creates mesmerizing refashioned self portraits and surreal landscapes.
Viktor in her work also combines gold and black with the primary symbols which she suggests constitute an ur-language; an ancient, more intuitive and inclusive mode of communication.
“Symbols mirror the patterns of the universe… that is what resonates on this very deep level, the symbols are meant to tap into that part of our DNA to tap into the subconscious”, she explains.
The result is work that is fresh -searingly original and contemporary; cosmic in scope with hieroglyphic features that recall myriad forms, from several cultures; from the Aboriginal Dreamtime paintings, baroque art, mandalas to West African textiles and cryptic Leopard secret society ideograms.
“I am greatly inspired by ancient cultures,” she says. “I am not simply interested in the aesthetics but more as a reference to the ways they viewed art. We tend to consider art a tool for self-expression or a political statement—these cultures used art as a vehicle for illumination and transcendence.”
Apart from the gold paintings, she also executes sculpture, photographs, video and installations.
In the last several years, Viktor has continued to gain international recognition as an important artist.
Her work is in several important institutions and collections.
My eyes are feasting.
Forceful and stands for something . A lot of contemporary Art, ‘ wishy washy ‘. This is endearing on many levels because it taps into our innerselves! Splendid, and thanks for sharing.