Introducing TOTEM – Four New Works by Eldar Einarson

An eagle that remains unchanged. Four worlds of colour. And an experiment with brushed aluminium that is only just beginning.

 

Something new is taking shape at GaffGaff Galleri.

Eldar Einarson is currently developing a new series called TOTEM, consisting for now of four works built around the same geometric eagle.

The eagle stands frontally and symmetrically with its wings outstretched. Its form remains essentially unchanged from one work to the next, while everything surrounding it (colour, light and atmosphere) transforms.

This contrast is at the heart of the series:

The eagle remains. The world around it changes.

From Ancient Symbols to a Contemporary Medium

The visual language of TOTEM draws inspiration from ancient myths, stone mosaics and stained glass, but the works are very much products of the present.

AI has been used as part of Eldar's creative process, not as the idea behind the works, but as a contemporary tool for developing and exploring them.

In that sense, TOTEM moves across centuries: from ancient symbolic imagery and stained glass to AI and, ultimately, brushed aluminium.

The title should not be understood as a reference to a particular traditional or religious totem. Eldar uses the word metaphorically: the eagle becomes an emblematic presence at the centre of a world in constant transformation. Mindanao Advice

Four Variations

The four works explore distinctly different colour worlds.

TOTEM – BLUE moves through cobalt, turquoise, violet and silver, giving the image an almost crystalline quality.

TOTEM – YELLOW opens towards light, combining yellow and gold with blue and turquoise.

TOTEM – RED is the most intense variation, surrounding the motionless eagle with red, orange and deep blue.

TOTEM – EARTH moves into bronze, copper, ochre, charcoal and silver. These colours may form a particularly close relationship with the metal on which the work will eventually be printed. Mindanao Advice

Dark lines divide all four compositions into fragments of colour and light, recalling stained glass or mosaic. Organic forms move around the strict geometry of the eagle.

Movement meets stillness. The organic meets the constructed. Change meets permanence.

But These Works Aren't Finished Yet

What you see on screen is not intended to be the final experience of TOTEM.

The works have been conceived as UV prints on brushed aluminium, with parts of the metal remaining visible through the image.

That matters.

Instead of functioning merely as something on which the image is printed, the aluminium will become part of the artwork itself. Light areas can acquire a silvery quality, colours will interact with the cool metallic surface, and the brushed aluminium should respond differently as the light in the room or the position of the viewer changes.

In other words, the finished image should never be completely static.

And that is precisely why we now need to see the works physically printed.

We Need a Few Adventurous Co-Conspirators

There is one practical complication: we cannot currently have the test prints produced on brushed aluminium here in Davao, where Eldar lives.

Suitable production is available in Europe and the USA; however, we are looking for a few adventurous co-conspirators who would like to help us with the experiment.

The idea is simple.

You receive one of the four TOTEM works as a 40 × 40 cm brushed-aluminium print, ready to hang, at the cost of production.

In return, we would like you to live with it for a little while. Look at it in daylight and artificial light. See what happens when you move past it. Look at it from different angles.

And then tell us what you really think.

Does the metal behave as Eldar imagined? Does it add something that cannot be seen in the digital image? Does the work change with the light? And, most importantly, does the finished object live up to the idea?

This is not quite a finished collection yet.

It is an experiment in progress and for once, we are inviting a few people outside GaffGaff Galleri to become part of that process.

If you would like to help us test TOTEM – BLUE, YELLOW, RED or EARTH, get in touch and tell us which one you would most like to live with.

The eagle remains. The world around it changes.

And now we are about to discover what happens when metal and light become part of that world.