"Pembe"
Oil on canvas
'Pembe' means 'Horn' in Swahili. One word to designate what makes the rhinoceros: what distinguishes it, what protects it, and what, today, puts it in danger.
This painting belongs to the 'African Sepias' collection — a series in which I chose to work in warm, almost monochrome harmonies, to concentrate attention on form rather than colour.
What fascinated me here is the skin. That natural armour, folded, cracked, almost mineral. I worked the raking light that highlights every relief, every fold, every fissure — as if the material itself told an entire life.
The result is less a portrait than a study of texture. The rhinoceros becomes almost abstract — a surface of stone and hide, traversed by light.
I — Original Work
"Pembe"
Original work sold — Private Collection
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II — Canvas Editions
Numbered art print, hand-signed by the artist. On 375 gsm matte canvas. Comes with a certificate of authenticity and the artist's double signature.
Shipping: rolled in a tube or framed ready to hang.
