PEACE AND POWER

By Riva Boutylkova

This drawing emerged from the idea of creating something calming and serene, yet portraying a powerful image of a woman. The figure has this peacefulness to her and I wanted to complement that by making the ornaments around her have this organic vine-like shape, to me it has a bit of a mother-earthy vibe. My style here is inspired by artists like Jan Toorop, Aubrey Beardsley and Gustav Klimt, they make really beautiful art, but the portrayal of women in fin-de-siecle art is often this ‘femme fatale’ that aggressively strikes down poor unsuspecting men with her "deadly lady parts", which I’m contrasting here, by not portraying the character as a beast-like predator, but as a human being with a calming presence.