INSPIRATION: CRISTINA FRANCOV

My work started as a worldly extension of my dreams. I wanted that exquisite context in which dreams unfold to be, somehow, relished by the senses beyond my own imagination only. Growing up, I realized dreams flashed small centrifugal shards of my persona, the universe and all of it encompassed symbols open to personal conclusions stemming from brief events, oftentimes imperceptible to myself and the world at large. As if it almost were a cryptic game of questions and answers.

And so I assumed dreams and symbolic manifestations to be coded messages that, when translated into images, could establish themselves as obvious but never simple links straight to the anima and spirit of the beholder (and my own). I worked on my dreams as I worked on myself; trained my hand and tied it to my mind in an effort to lift off the chains of reason and sense; opposite actions that I hoped would someday teach me a way of materializing all of that which floated in rather ethereal and cosmogonic forms.

 - Cristina Francov 

Cristina Francov is an artist who gives life to her characters using experimental digital photography and mixed media through self-portraiture.

Sphynx

Spirits Weaving a Nexus 

In the painting, Spirits Weaving a Nexus, two otherworldly women weave the dream of a sleeping woman. Not only does Francov personify the dream process, she also shows a relationship between the ethereal and physical realm, both of which operate with conscious intelligent intention. What some might consider balance between the light and the dark, or the above and the below, or the right hand path and the left hand path, good and bad, male and female, might also be thought of as suspension. (Beautiful Bazaar Mag, 2014)  

To Keep You Alive

I Shall Never Forgive You 

In paintings such as Nunca te voy a perdonar (I Shall Never Forgive You) or El banquete magnetic (The Magnetic Banquet) spirits hover above sleeping persons. The dream state in which the person lies is manifested by the spirit floating above them.

The Magnetic Banquet

Introspection Whilst Dreaming

The works of Cristina Francov are dark but brilliant in colour, dreamlike in the way refined images dissolve into washes of colours. Cristina is a realist of cerebral abstraction. Surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, and symbolism are all infused within her style. She generates psychological and spiritual archetypes into modern forms through photography, photo manipulation, painting, and drawing. 

Francov's work is unnerving and portrays the terrors of dream which is haunting yet beautiful. The discovery of this artist's work has inspired me to perhaps experiment with mixed media and to create portraits that appear almost like paintings for I have always found realistic portraits frightening. Perhaps, I could also incorporate myself as one of the dream characters as this would give the exhibition a personal touch. 

The Commitment

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Artist's Gallery:

http://www.cristinafrancov.com/en-index.html

Beautiful Bazaar Article:

https://beautifulbizarre.net/2014/12/04/deconstructing-shadow-self-cristina-francov/