Man ex machina
Half-length portraits of nubile women, supple of flesh and
noble of face, float against a Daedalian labyrinth of interlocking sprockets,
cogs, and axles. Mechanical Romanticism,
the first solo exhibition from self-taught artist Iyan De Jesus, softens the
metallic edge of steampunk with pliant alabaster skin. Each painting is a
pastel-hued post-apocalyptic technofantasy suffused in color.
Holding court against a background of mechanical
complications are nymph-like cyborgs—more human than robot—whose dignified
expressions hide stories rooted in mythology, literature, snatches of song, and
fleeting moments between lucidity and sleep. To help viewers divine a work’s narrative,
De Jesus camouflages elements among a multitude of gears: owls, hearts,
snowflakes, gas lamps, and totem poles all serve as subtle bearers of meaning.
Case in point, Chance
Encounters, the largest piece in the exhibition, was born out of a vivid waking
dream involving an early-morning visit from a bluebird, rendered here as an
automaton. Secreted clocks, their hands indicating the relentless passage of
time, represent the artist’s insomnia. Other legible symbols—empty birdhouses
and a wind-up mechanism protruding from the woman’s head—push the story
forward.
It is obvious that De Jesus suffers from horror vacui, fear of empty space, and
she fills every corner of the picture plane with a staggering level of detail.
For her, an untouched patch of canvas means that a work is unfinished. Close
examination of her portraits will reveal strands of hair that have been
rendered individually and meticulous eyebrows groomed by a fine brush. Other
visual signatures include the illusion of embossed elements and an aversion to
visible brushstrokes.
The attention to minutiae, obsession with geometric
compositions and patterns, cleanliness of lines, and smoothness of surface hark
back to De Jesus’s background in architecture and computer-aided design. Unlike
formally trained artists who went from canvas to screen, De Jesus started
“painting” with a mouse before she shifted to brushes and glazes. The jump from
digital to traditional was a rebellion against the ephemeral nature of bits and
bytes, as well as a surrender to the soul’s desire to create something lasting.
The result is Mechanical Romanticism,
a mesmerizing debut from an artist who has successfully translated her talents
from new to old media.
Each painting in this exhibition demands more than a cursory
glance. Those who linger and look will be rewarded by the unexpected lyricism disguised
by steampunk’s retro-futuristic tendencies. In between pulleys and wheels lie images that
summon the sound of the sea, the slow and steady beat of the human heart. — ll
Rendezvous with us on November 22, 2013, Friday, at 8pm for the opening of Mechanical Romanticism, a solo art show by Iyan De Jesus.
See you there!
