A return to innocence.
Where anything is possible.
By Nyadzombe Nyampenza
It would be alright to find Franklyn Dzingai’s Bloom sufficient as a beautiful portrait of a child immersed with flowers. The pretty painting can be decorative. Its bright colors would lighten up a room. But the intense and inescapable side stare of the juvenile subject might not allow all the viewers to get off easy.
Colorful blossoms are transposed all over the canvas. In structure they do not represent a single botanical species. They have no stems. Their detached existence is potent with symbolism. Kaleidoscopic petals make the work a feast of color. Amidst the symphony of hues the face is largely untouched. Apart from the eyes, nose, and lips the canvas is bare. The facial expression is passive. Only the catchlights in the eyes animate the child’s somber mood.
The thriving subject is not crippled by anxieties and doubts of adulthood. Youth radiates purity of motive, and blind trust. It is a vulnerable disposition. An attitude prescribed by mystics and sages as the gateway to mastery of the universe.
