DUM SPIRO, SPERO 2012

Editor: Dragan Ilić Di Vogo's mixed-media painting, "DUM SPIRO, SPERO," created in 2012... It's quite dreamlike, almost surreal. There's a sense of layered figures and symbolism that feels both beautiful and melancholic. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The title itself, "While I breathe, I hope," positions the work within a tradition of resilience. This is especially relevant in a contemporary context where we grapple with anxieties related to identity and belonging. The layering of figures, the birds, butterflies… They're not just aesthetically pleasing; they become metaphors for transformation and the complex interplay between individual experience and collective memory. Do you see how the artist uses both realism and abstraction to suggest this tension? Editor: Yes, I notice that. The figures are rendered realistically, but the space around them dissolves into these abstract washes of color. It's like the figures are grounded, while their context is fluid and uncertain. Curator: Exactly. And that uncertainty, that refusal to be pinned down, speaks to the fluidity of identity itself. Consider how notions of femininity are portrayed here – are they idealized or challenged? Perhaps it's both, acknowledging the persistent power of representation while also disrupting fixed notions of the feminine ideal. This relates to intersectional feminism by exploring how power operates in the everyday. Editor: I see what you mean. The butterfly on the woman's shoulder and the melancholic sculpture don’t allow it to be easily romanticized, but suggest darker meanings. Curator: Precisely! And doesn't the artwork encourage you to look deeper at similar images, old and new? Editor: Definitely! Thinking about it this way helps me see beyond just the surface beauty and consider the bigger cultural questions the artwork raises.