Oban Taika

Like dense, sticky substances, these chromatic areas characterized by extremely vivid colors take turns on the sculptural head until they cover half of his face and then descend into his neck and right shoulder. The purity, immaculate whiteness and inevitable stillness of the sixteenth-century statue have become irreparably stained and there is no way to return to the original cold composure. Technical perfection is stained with energetic color, David's icy skin is flooded with a chromatic blanket that invests his face; past and present have merged, and "Fusion III" is nothing but a testimony to this event. Taika, as if he were a time traveler, makes forays between past and present uniting two worlds that would be impossible to reunite. Yesterday and today are no longer so distant; even, they can be overlapped through the use of art and its expressive tools. In "Aim," a blindfolded Cupid is soaring through the air. He is painted at the exact moment when he is about to shoot his arrow. The sky, usually characterized by warm, fluffy pink clouds, is here replaced by a chromatic sea formed by elements that are layering on top of each other. Arrows with solid colors are juxtaposed with large lettering, geometric elements and elements reminiscent of the world of manga. "Aim" is fresh depiction of a modern-day God of Love, surrounded by pop, bright and large lettering and extremely vivid, almost electric coloring, as if the act of shooting an arrow were an advertising event. Oban Taika creates a bridge between the past and the present by managing to move the ancient frescoes and statues. She manages to revive them, to make them speak again, giving them a new and fresh expressiveness. The past and the present have never been so close.