Inka Essenhigh
Blue Wave
2002, oil on canvas
178 x 188cm |
Appropriating
the theme of Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave,
Inka Essenhigh's Blue Wave crests with sculptural
solidity. Essenhigh deviates from the flat designs and enamel
application of her early work. Using oil paint she infuses
her scene with manufactured vivacity: this heroic depiction
of nature is rendered with the aesthetics of computer animation.
Like Hokusai's woodcut print, Essenhigh uses the stillness
of stylised formations to contemplate the drama of a raging
seascape. Flaunting their artificiality, the turquoise waves
seduce with a certain menace, their razor sharp peaks extending
with decorative threat. |