Manipulator 

Acrylic on canvas 

50×70(76)

2024

 

The painter’s intention is to illuminate the dual character of human behavior and the deceptive aspects of personality. At first glance, this appears to be a sad portrait – a figure with its head bowed down, its eyes intensely strained, sweat dripping down its forehead in intricate patterns. However, turn it over and the story changes dramatically. What was once the face of melancholy now becomes a face reminiscent of the devil. With its head bowed down and seemingly staring at you, the forehead of this depiction is also covered with sweat in a stylized pattern. The painter has tried to emphasize the feelings of sadness, tension and helplessness in this figure. Thus, you see a figure with its head bowed in despair, but with its eyes fixed on you, as if asking for help. But when you turn the work of art upside down, you see a completely opposite figure. This figure is reminiscent of the devil. The gaze that was sad a moment ago has now turned into a cunning gaze. The sweat on the forehead of the sad figure turns into mouth water flowing from the mouth of the other figure, who smiles with appetite, and the patterns used here also have a special meaning. The small protruding patterns on the parallel wavy lines forming the figure’s face are “fishing rod” motifs. This motif is used in all facial features of the figure. The purpose of the painter’s use of this motif is that the fishing rod is a tool used for hunting.The painter has stylized this object and used it in various sizes in the whole painting, because manipulative people catch people on a kind of hook for their own benefit. If you look carefully at the eyes of the figure in both cases, you will see that the pupils are very small. With this, the painter tried to draw attention to the fact that the eyes can never deceive. Because small pupils mean hatred, disgust and lack of love in body language. The spiral patterns from the pupils to the periphery are also a symbolic depiction of his manipulation. On the white part of his eyes you can also see the “horn” motif found in Azerbaijani carpets. The purpose of using this motif was to express that in the eyes of this figure there was also a “desire for superiority, leadership and rule”. Although the patterns used in his eyes are hard geometric, these patterns become more rhythmic and softly wavy on his face, which means that the inner world of this figure in his eyes and his appearance on his face are different, that is, this figure is wearing a “mask”.