Ultrakopf, 2013
Mixed media.
20 x 30 x 25 cm.
These heads are inspired by sculptural portraits of the Hellenistic period.
They are heads of heroes, based on this period of historical transition of the decline of the classical Greece to the rise of the Roman Empire, and they are represented from an also transitional today.
There was a a great interest during Hellenism in the expressiveness of the portrait and the possibility it offered for the study of character and individual psychology. Religious and naturalistic topics moved towards a more dramatic human expression, when interest in deities and heroic themes was still of importance.
Heroes like Hercules and Perseus were portrayed in sculpture with idealized physiques and in legend with superhuman powers. They battled gods, monsters, and other heroes to achieve fame. Although some gained immortality by ascending to Olympus, most died usually heroically or tragically, achieving immortality by its popularity, life or legend.
From this socio-cultural framework certain ground of modern art will be developed, as heterogeneous, cosmopolitan and increasingly individualist.
Now, materials such as bronze or stone are replaced by paper or plaster, more related to an ephemeral, perishable civilization.
Now, feeling like a hero becomes ordinary, in a society where one is already born being protagonist of their own mortality, under the standardizing effect of everydays characters of the film or comic.
