Mystical Vision

In the Misztikus vízió (“Mystical Vision”) series, the artist speaks in the language of photographic art, a completely new mode of expression in his oeuvre. In this selection we witness the extraordinary metamorphosis of faces in water, antique theatre masks and a winged creature/angel. The face and the flow of infinite time – as well as water – are constant signs in the artist’s linguistic toolbox. The features of the images and masks lying in the stream, the changes in their facial expressions and their expressive power are modified in a variety of tones and colour modulations by the rippling of the constantly flowing water, the texture of the pebbles and stones, the reflected gleam of the incident light, alluding to the various influences, emotions and distortions of the passage of time experienced through human life.

The artist also reflects on the mysterious attraction of theatrical masks, now obscured, by presenting a variety of representations of objects submerged in water. In other ways, the use of different light and colour effects reflects the artificial magic of the contemporary theatre scene. Although these submerged images/masks are assumed to be unchanging at a given moment, they undergo an increasing transformation, a magical metamorphosis, in the long run.

In Győző Sárkány’s expressions, water can also be interpreted as a symbol of time, whose ceaseless movement creates and extinguishes intangible forms with cosmic impetuosity. As we read in Attila József: „Art as a carrier is always the same, but as it is a carrier of change as well, it is always different…”

Ildikó D. Udvary art historian