Faculty of Art

Drawing and Painting

Yana Rzayeva

9-2. Land of Fire

24x36 in. encaustic, oil, charcoal on cradled wood.

“The Land of Fire depicts a rough stylized outline of the shape of my ancestral homeland, Azerbaijan, reminiscent of an eagle. According to a legend, Zeus punished Prometheus for bringing fire to humanity, by chaining him to the Caucasus mountains. Therefore, the background the composition is placed on alludes to fire. I used encaustic medium to create an earthy texture and utilized the charcoal transfer technique to create an impression-like, fragmented image that conveys a sense of a distant memory, rather than a fully rendered form. Considering the nature of charcoal, it also fits in well with the concept.”