Lately I've been thinking a lot about how much we miss by not taking a breath and looking at things closely. I don't mean simply in a "beauty is everywhere" kind of way, but rather, how much do we really know about the things that surround us. The chairs, the pens, the bottles, all of the everyday things that we use and toss away casually. Are we recognizing the full potential of theses things, not as simple utilitarian objects, but as tools of meditation and study; how closely do we experience the everyday and what can we do to experience more fully?
The photographer Ion Zupcu certainly has these questions in mind. For several years, he has taken the mundane and created some lovely meditations using nothing more than paper, flowers, bottles, and light. Zupcu calls his still lives, “…a conversation with a myself.” Noting that no one ever stops to talk about their feelings for shapes (unless of course you live in Flatland). In his most recent body of work, Zupcu is both sculptor and photographer; taking small sheets of paper and folding them to form the most simplest of shapes. The paper is typically small, but the photographs make them monumental.
In Untitled, March 15 #2, the intersecting strips of paper are arranged and shot at an angle that makes them appear like a Richard Sera sculpture. The singular light source gracefully creates shadows that belies the actual size of the paper. The piece, Close, depicts two sheets of paper that are barely joined by their edges, delicately balanced and strong. This delicate strength is also evidenced in Existence, again two sheets of paper stand together mysteriously suspended and placed against a soft void. The sheets are towers and sails and feathers, ready to bend and sway with whatever forces are pushed against them.
Zupcu’s images can also be quite whimsical and decorative, several of his pieces take on recognizable forms of flowers and shells. However, the most rewarding part about viewing Zupcu’s work is how it opens your eyes to looking at the world a bit more closely and learning to really appreciate the mundane. The work can open our senses to the things that surround us and free us for the tedium of chores and work. Pick up that pen on your desk and roll it around a bit between your fingers for a few minutes; the gesture will focus your mind and your problem will ripple out.
Zupcu’s work can be viewed at his site: www.ionzupcu.ro and also at ClampArt
~Sesthasak Boonchai
