RADU SUCIU

TARKOVSKY TRIPTYCH
Inside Zone Art Residency Project
Borsec, Romania, May 2016
ONE: A Different Kind of Tarkovsky
This work is honoring Russian film director
Andrei Tarkovsky, whose personality I
always felt to be very close to mine and to
my inner vibrations. When I started working
on this triptych I was thinking of
Tarkovskys torment, which could take on a
different symbolic meaning in my painting.
This man wanted to help us get on a mystic
path, and he did so through his movie, The
Stalker. I noticed that in the final version of
my painting his suffering no longer looks
like that of someone tortured by existential
anxiety, but like that of a self-assured man
walking on a safe road he himself had built,
and on which he left his significant and
eloquent footsteps. I think one needs time
and a lot of patience to read and decipher the
whole painting. The circle I placed in the
middle keeps the visual and conceptual
balance; the blue hand in the lower left-hand
corner symbolizes his sheer goodness; an
orange robot stands very close to the central
circle. The colors sort of swirl around, but
when one gets closer one notices that they
are meant to form a circle which opens up in
an almost magic way. Other abstractions I
used in this painting are connected squares
which are meant to impart a sense of
strength, since a square does not bulge. In
the lower section I painted a fantastic, black
stalker; further up I drew a small crow to
watch over the Russian director until his

mission is accomplishedhis bequest of his

thoughts and life. I also incorporated words
from an imaginary language, written with
characters of my own devising; and the
number three (in several places, some barely
visible, some drawn and then covered with
paint) which is a permanent feature of my
paintings. The main colors are dark green,
blue, yellow, orange, and red. All of them
create a painless aura for Tarkovskys
suffering.

A Different Kind of Tarkovsky. First Version

A Different Kind of Tarkovsky. Second Version

A Different Kind of Tarkovsky. Detail 1

A Different Kind of Tarkovsky. Detail 2

TWO: Penelopes Reincarnation

This ancient Greek woman, a symbol of
connubial fidelity waiting for her husband to
come back from the Trojan War wanted to
return to the present. She in fact did, and
ended up on my canvas. I see her emotional
stability as the perfect counterpart for
Tarkovskys constant spiritual wanderings. I
scattered fresh flowers on her entire being.

The lower left-hand corner of the painting

no longer shows a hand, but a bunch of red
flowers symbolizing the birth of a new
Penelope. The flowers depict her innocence
and suggest the fragrance of the untainted
woman, her determination in facing lifes
cataclysms, and her desire to remain to the
very end a beautiful human being. Penelope
2

is buried in flowers as she fights to protect

her pure, yet vigorous love for the hero of
the first painting. I didnt use too many
abstract elements in this work; instead, I
started with her name (which is no longer
visible) in the upper section of the canvas,
and I painted a red heart in the lower righthand corner, constantly beating for her
husband. I depicted her love in sober colors:
royal red, black, and royal blue.

Penelopes Reincarnation. First Version. Detail 1:

Heart

Penelopes Reincarnation. First Version

Penelopes Reincarnation. First Version. Detail 2

Penelopes Reincarnation. Final Version

Penelopes Reincarnation. Final Version. Detail

THREE: Reunion
The third painting brings the two heroes
back into each others arms. Once they find
each other they will never separate. I still
used abstract elements, but I turned
Tarkovskys arm into Penelopes flower

bunch, and his blue hand into her warm,

loving embrace. The colors stay similar to
the ones I used in the first two paintings, but
the shades are warmer.
4

Reunion. First Version

Reunion. First Version. Detail

Reunion. Final Version and Details 1 and 2

Following the completion of these three works, the first ones to be conceived as a coherent
series, I plan on painting similar sets focused on connecting people, both fictitious and real. I will
do my best to finish all of these so that they look pristine and amazing, like perfectly polished
objects just out of a gift box. In the future I would like to adopt a variety of other techniques, for
instance, collage using small metal and textile objects, stickers, little toys, and so on. I am sure
all of these will find a place in my future work.

Radu Suciu, 2016

English Version: Luminita Florea
Photographs: Radu Suciu, Sr.