The basis of the works are photographs of old papers from the Gorizia archive with a distinctly emphasized surface structure and damage: tears, crumples, folds, torn edges, faded stamps, ink and yellowed stains, which are the result of long-term storage. We also notice that different shots of papers are layered on top of each other, in a established compositional sequence, with which the author creates the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface.

At first glance, it seems that the archive papers are merely the basis for images of human characters from his own archive, some of which are older, analogue footage, but the concept is slightly different. The works clearly show the corresponding images of female and male figures, mostly coated with clay, which Kusterle percieves as the primal substance (materia prima). The contact of bodies with the earth marks their transformation either into fantastic creatures with human bodies and animal heads, which we know from ancient mythologies, or into mute beings with closed eyes, staring into their inner world and floating in the void. Pairs and groups of bodies are also depicted in most of the images in unusual, mostly cramped postures or intertwined in convulsive embraces, which give the impression of mental and physical unsettles and tension.

But the figures in this cycle are not the main focus the author’s research at all. He focuses on the search for a color and tonal balance between the figures and the paper base, which he achieves primarily by removing colors and strong contrasts. The texture of the skin and clothes in most of the shots flows into the paper. The individual figures are almost transparent and completely merged with the base, immersed in it, which the author emphasizes with various digitally added details: yellowed spots and stains, as well as tears and holes, spread from the papers to the surfaces of the bodies. The viewer can therefore no longer distinguish which fragments are original and which he created with the special effects of new technologies; what is the surface of the body and what is paper.

– Nataša Kovšca

 

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