Through zoomorphism, colour contrasts and textual contrasts, the images allude to the lack of communication or non reciprocity in an emotional level between human beings.

The technique is a mixture of paper collage, pencil drawing, digital photo, photomanipulation and digital painting. The final artworks are in digital form.

Tiger Dream by Ina Mar, mixed media, 2009

Description: The young boy and his companion experience their first encounter and first metamorphosis of this series. The zoomorph male/female companion (tiger) wakes up and sees the boy lying on his/her bed, his head slightly leaned to the back, showing his uncovered neck. The tiger carefully takes his neck into his mouth. The tiger’s spoken words are written over his head while the boy’s intime thoughts are written inside his head. The tiger does not bite or hurt the boy, even though the boy expesses the wish to be aggressed. A sleeping child inside the boy’s head (reference to Egon Schiele) and the words “still a kid deep in his soul” allude to innocence. The image is contrasting innocence and gentleness to erotism and agressivity.
Colour palette: The palette contains “agressive” colours: mostly blood red, deep orange, black and saturated yellow.
Size of the original: 19.7 in x 15.7 in (50×40cm)
Season of emotions: Summer, passion/energy and something at it’s peak

Sweet Unreciprocity by Ina Mar, mixed media, 2009
Description: The kitty – the only “warm” element in a cold, blue palette – is in love with the boy and delves itself into emotionalities, saying: “I brought you a blue rose. I am laying it at your feet”. The young boy (reference to Egon Schiele’s “Self-Portrait with Chinese Lantern and Fruits”, 1912) is arrogantly smoking, turning his back to the kitty and uttering: “Cool down kitty. It’s december. Love is in its winter rest”. There’s a contrast between emotionality (kitty) and cool rationality (boy).
Colour palette: dark blue, teal blue, turquoise, indigo, deep red, black
Size of the original: 29.5 in x 19.7 in (75×50cm).
Season of emotions: Winter, coldness and a time of rest from the cycle of growth and bloom

Chameleon Dream by Ina Mar, mixed media, 2009
Description: The male figure is a reference to Egon Schiele’s “Levitation” (1915). It’s the moment just after he wakes up and he is still in his bed, telling his zoomorph companion about one of his dreams, where he was obliged to redecorate his chameleons’ tanks again and again, because the chameleons kept changing colours. In order to show understanding, the companion transforms itself into a red iguana (and not a chameleon – because iguanas don’t have a color-changing ability to blend in with their surroundings – which is what frustrated the man).
Colour palette:  deep greens, deep reds and black
Size of the original: 35.4 in x 27.6 in (90×70cm)
Season of emotions: Spring, change (and the fear of change)

Unintentionally Is My Specialty by Ina Mar, mixed media, 2009

Description: “Unintentionally is my specialty” is an allegory of the artist (depicted as butterfly) and his companion (reference to an Egon Schiele figure). The boy touches slightly the butterfly’s delicate wings and they tear accidentally. He says “Unintentionally is my specialty”. The butterfly consoles the boy and takes comfort in saying “Suffering is my muse”.
The delicate wings represent the emotional sensibility of the artist: a capacity to respond to aesthetic and emotional stimuli and use them as “material” to create, but at the same time a liability to be affected by external influences and to feel hurt.
Colour palette: golden yellow, rust orange and brown tones. I used a mixture of byzantine icon colours and roman frescoe texture.
Size of the original: 35.4 in x 27.6 in (90×70cm)
Season of emotions: Autumn, maturation and approaching death

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Growing old is a wonderful thing by Ina Mar, 2009, mixed media

Here is the text embedded in the background of the artwork:

If I ever die, I wish to die of love, for example to die suffering of desire or be a victim of a crime of passion. It’s terrible to die of any other cause. Imagine dying of a sickness or just from old age!
Listen, I think I am growing younger every day. I am becoming smaller, losing weight, losing my hair, my skin is now soft like that of a baby. Touch it! See? It’s so soft! I believe I will soon be your age again. As soon as I am young again, I can take you to the end of the world. We’ll start a completely new life together. I am really sorry I didn’t remember your name. But the warmth of your hands is familiar to me. I am sure I have loved you passionately in the past.
Did you know that it’s possible to fall in love with the same person more than once in one life? Age gives you that strength by taking away memory. Loss of memory brings the freshness of rediscovery. I am now able to fall in love with you again and again. (Text: Ina Mar)

Some of my layers:

• Doll
• Photo of the right hand of a person I love (top)
• Hand taken from a painting by Egon Schiele (bottom)
• Eiffel Tower, taken from a vintage postcard. Stamp and postage from the same postard
• Photo of a breast (right, middle)
• Photo of trash and paper debris
• Ink and blood stains (hand-painted on the debris) (in Photoshop of course!)
• Several text layers with several colors and effects
• Distressed effects using the background of an old black and white photo of my father
• Frame taken from a vintage photo. I liked its irregular, destroyed corners. Just used the frame from this photo.

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A kid wishes to get rid of his bad dreams. He asks everywhere for help and tries one method after another, until he finds his own.

I’d say it’s all about art therapy… Read the story: http://www.bookofbaddreams.com – I love this guys writings…

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