Volante XI (2023)

Description

This artwork, Volante XI (2023) by Alexandra Roussopoulos, is part of the artist’s ongoing series that delves into the themes of movement, space, and abstraction. Created with acrylic on a screen-printed base, the piece measures 77 by 140 cm (30.3 by 55.1 inches), and features a harmonious interplay between geometric forms and naturalistic elements.

In Volante XI, two angular, geometric shapes float above a serene landscape that is printed in muted tones of green and blue. These abstract forms, rendered in soft shades of pink, purple, and white, appear weightless, evoking the sensation of flight or hovering over the environment below. Their sharp lines and smooth surfaces contrast with the textured, organic forms of the landscape, which suggests a natural scene, perhaps a forest or riverside view.

The background, created using screen printing, features intricate foliage and flowing water, adding a rich, naturalistic texture to the composition. The choice of green and blue tones in the landscape contrasts with the cooler, lighter tones of the floating geometric figures, establishing a dialogue between nature and abstraction, tradition and modernity. The use of screen printing gives the background a layered, almost timeless quality, which is juxtaposed against the crisp, contemporary geometry of the floating forms.

The frame of the piece, with its distressed, weathered edges, further emphasizes the contrast between the old and the new, grounding the otherwise ethereal, floating shapes within a historical or natural context. The worn green edges provide a sense of history or passage of time, while the floating forms speak to movement, transformation, and lightness.

Volante XI continues Roussopoulos’s exploration of spatial relationships, inviting viewers to reflect on how geometric abstraction can coexist with and elevate elements of the natural world. Through the use of acrylic on screen printing, the artist creates a unique visual language that blends the organic with the abstract, encouraging contemplation on the delicate balance between groundedness and freedom, stillness and movement.

“My painting often escapes the traditional canvas on stretcher bars to venture onto all kinds of surfaces: textile, ceramic, wall, wood, or glass… The “Flying” series was painted on old silkscreens that I hunted down. Trace, memory lies at the heart of my work. I never pre-draw a structure, but it emerges as the painting progresses in an unstable balance, it arises in the favor of a loss of reference, a leap into the void with points of support. My palette starts with primary colors which I then mix extensively to associate them with additional hues. How one color lives alongside another, modifies it, creates a balance or imbalance, that’s what interests me. I love the tension of these sharp lines, the perfect boundary that is created between two colors, and the contrast between the existing background that I have reworked and the form that stands out. A dialogue is created between the exterior and the interior, between the landscape and the abstract form, drawing a spatial and temporal journey, that of the flying carpet, a symbol of takeoff and travel.“