Untitled 1982

Editor: Here we have Friedel Dzubas's "Untitled," created in 1982 using pastel and watercolor. It’s rather playful; the colours and shapes give me a childlike wonder, even a feeling of something ancient. What kind of images come to mind for you when you look at it? Curator: It strikes me as a ritualistic object, perhaps a painted shield, maybe even an abstracted astrological chart, something that could be held and used. Do the colours carry symbolic weight, do you think? Editor: I hadn't considered symbolism beyond a gut feeling! The gold border seems to contain or protect the interior shapes... Curator: Indeed! And how might we interpret the placement of those vertical colour marks – like standing stones in some sacred site? Notice the rhythm they create, almost a song or a story. Do you feel a sense of place or narrative within this arrangement? Editor: Yes, now that you point it out! They do feel intentionally placed, and create a certain ordered, colourful pattern. And what about those three dark circles along the bottom? Curator: They echo, don't they, that inherent triadic structure that is resonant in various belief systems – past, present, future, or mind, body, spirit? Do these simple shapes begin to resemble any iconography or symbolism familiar to you? Editor: Not that I can pinpoint. Still, looking closer, it almost feels like the artist is drawing on some kind of deeply rooted, shared visual language. I feel like I’ve been granted permission to look closer. Curator: Dzubas seems to tap into that archetypal imagery, using abstraction to express something very profound and primordial. I learned that seeing the piece in such an objective way will allow one to extract symbolism without assigning concrete narrative, allowing for broader understanding.