I believe that time is the main character of my creation.
We live a century of paradoxes, when myths are birth almoast immediately only to disappear with the speed of wind … A simple click, and Caron’s boat bears in the hell of forgiveness “statues” of all dimensions and of very expensive materials, on which paint has not even dried out.
All my works are defined by duality: on one hand – at a first sight – they illustrate a myth, a story, and a legend; on the other hand, they are comments on contemporary events or life concepts. For example, “Archeology: Portable Archaeology 4” illustrates the society within art has no meaning, “Archeology: Road to Ithaca” represents a metaphor of the obstacles we must face with, just as Ulysses did, to make our dreams come true, while “Archeology: Pandora’s Box” could be seen as a definition of lack of hope that seems endemic in our society.
The dual character has its origin in the inspiration sources, considering archaeology first of all on my list of sources, followed by the marks of present. I make use of archaeological fragments bearing in mind a simple reasoning – people leave something behind, a piece of memory more or less important, therefore I use the left-over of certain past (the ancient times). I chose to reassembly them according to a modern context (for example – the association with the TV or with the suffocation of everyday stress), because it usually goes this way. A track of the way we live our lives remains somewhere, isolated or not, even we consider memory fragile and ephemeral. And this legacy is kept intact (the best proof is an archaeological discovery), throughout hope, a small element that makes us dream of how would be like to change the world. There is a constant dream of the human kind, a dream that repeats and a dream that makes us see the world different at a different level of evolution.
Moreover, I use techniques that prove I focus on the quality of my art, a technique that bears a resemblance to the classical art and in the same time it brings the influence of the contemporary art. Furthermore, this is how I understood to highlight the fact that the time line is so fragile and there is not a strict border between times.
All in all, I still do not consider myself a political artist. But some of my artworks could be seen as allusions or symbols to some political events [for instance, “Archaeology: Portable Archaeology (Happy People Island)”, which correlates with Romanian referendum for admittance to the UE].
-Liviu Epuras
All my works are defined by duality: on one hand – at a first sight – they illustrate a myth, a story, and a legend; on the other hand, they are comments on contemporary events or life concepts. The dual character has its origin in the inspiration sources, considering archaeology first of all on my list of sources, followed by the marks of present. I make use of archaeological fragments bearing in mind a simple reasoning – people leave something behind, a piece of memory more or less important, therefore I use the left-over of certain past (the ancient times).
The image selected for the U. S. Embassy in Bucharest depicts The Thracian Horseman. This character has its origin in my native region’s Roman-Greek heritage. Its symbolism remains quite hazy. Since most of Thracian horseman’s depictions appear on the ancient funeral stelae, some scholars thought he would be a guide for the deceased’s souls on the Other World. On the other hand, he is shown riding and accompanied by a dog. Often he is hunting another animal, a rabbit, a deer, or a wild boar. Thus, he might be a symbol of virtue, fighting against the human passions (represented by the beasts).
In my work, the dog leaves its initial place, next to the horse, and jumps in the other “window”. In this depiction lies my comment on a contemporary subject. The dog seems more like he is chasing something, most likely a car or a cyclist. This is a scene so often seen in Romania in general and Bucharest in particular.
-Liviu Epuras
