Provocation in Black and White - Contemporary Art: Paintings and Installations by Natasha Lukanovich

Artist Statement - Provocation in Black and White

Provocation in Black and White is a series of paintings juxtaposing figures, power lines, barbed wire, fences, etc., in arrangements meant to provoke thoughts about the objects in relation to the figures.

The use of black and white, nearly exclusively, stems from a desire for clarity, to impart meaning through the arrangement of figures or things, eschewing color as the messenger for emotions. The shift to a graphic quality in the images is for much the same reason; the reduction to a minimal representation of the figure or thing (in many instances a black or white outline) places the focus on the arrangement of the images. While the human figure is often used in painting to provoke emotion, in these paintings the placement of the figure is used with the aim of provoking the intellect.