Travellers 2016

"Travellers" by Babak-Matveev, made in 2014, presents a dreamscape of two children adrift in a boat, surrounded by surreal, vibrant foliage. I wonder what the artist was thinking as the image unfolded into being? There's something about the juxtaposition of their stoic expressions against the whimsical backdrop that gets to me. It's as if the artist has captured a moment of childhood innocence thrown into a world teeming with adult mysteries. The colours are so saturated, the light so dreamlike, that it all feels like it's been pulled from a half-remembered fairytale. The two children stand on a wooden boat, surrounded by vivid flowers and still water. Are they sailing away, or simply standing still? As artists, aren’t we all on some kind of journey, grappling with the push and pull of creativity, trying to find our place in the story of art?