July 2013

Psyche

Rofi enjoys painting faces and figures. More than mere portraits, the faces in his paintings are metaphors for personifying issues relating to identity, society, spirituality and socio-political affairs. In the Asian world, the concept of face embodies dignity, honour and reputation. By extension, the face idiomatically conveys a map of one’s life. If the eyes are a window to one’s soul, then the expression, the smile, the slight twitch of the nose, the hair casting a shadow – the symmetry or lack thereof – does more to reveal the lives and stories within, going beyond face value.

In this show, Rofi embarks on a psychological study of the face. He paints faces of people caught in a myriad of circumstances, metaphorically conveying a man struggling in stormy seas, a society oppressed, a woman empowered, a public deluged by mass media and the courage of a community.

He depicts his subjects bold and strong but renders them sensitively to draw out the vulnerabilities of each character. This is accentuated by a mix of materials and aesthetics to add to the symbolism in each work.

Using the interplay of colour and texture, Rofi deconstructs forms into bold, well-defined strokes using palette knives. Acrylic is his preferred medium as its fast-drying quality makes it suitable for his style of building images with layers of paint. This technique also adds a sculptural quality to the surface of Rofi’s canvases.

Visit his website at www.rofizano.com