This painting, produced during the year 2022 and completed in early 2023, is part of a tribute to the Pricess Bopha Devi, the absolute icon of Southeast Asia of the 1960s: daughter of King Sihanouk, real Princess, Prima Ballerina and accomplished artist, woman of captivating beauty, She alone embodies the golden age of Cambodia in these post-war years.

The concept

It was impossible to develop the canvas under the aspect of a simple portrait; we had to seek to sublimate the image and make the character vibrate in its setting.

Posture, first. The Princess wears her crown in her hand, not on her head, demonstrating her eternal character as a free, independent woman, ahead of her time. Loose hair plays a role here in freeing itself from norms. The eyes and features are as if blurred, floating, reinforcing a desired impression of mystery. A mystery specific to her character, which she knew how to cultivate through her silences and her sometimes fleeting, often deliberately piercing gaze.

The composition

The composition of the painting is a stylized spiral that starts from her eyes and widens eccentrically like a snail’s shell (and which corresponds to the golden ratio, supposedly the unit of harmony). This gives a dynamic which seems to make the image move, to bring the viewer into the painting. It is at the same time a metaphor for the historical power of the character, whose lifeline broadens and manifests itself in amplitude as it dynamically unfolds.

These curved lines are supported by a series of very colorful bas-reliefs, which here recall the stylized detail of Khmer wall sculptures.

The top of the princely head is surmounted by a dotted line which opens into pure white (the elevation of the spirit).

Ornamentation

The use of gold and the collage of golden objects is an artifice of opulence, but above all a play with the light which must make the aura of the character sparkle when the canvas is strongly lit. It is also a distinctive sign of the regalia and accessories of the dancers of the Royal Ballet: gold as a mirror of the divine.

In conclusion, the painting seeks the vibration, movement, mystery and iconic power of the character. It seems full of details, but the goal here is to offer several levels of reading, consciously and unconsciously.

Details