Alan Khatagty
Woman Through the Eyes of a Man

Is it possible to see another person the way he or she actually is, undistorted by our own memories, ideas, and associations? Alan Khatagty’s artworks present women as composite characters blending beauty and tradition, reality and fantasy. Some of his female protagonists are instantly recognisable, their faces, stances, and gazes suggesting a certain disposition. Other images foreground specific details, like the colour of fabric, an ornamental pattern, or a fragment of landscape. These elements form a coherent whole, capturing not so much outward likeness as the general impression left by the person.

The cultural context plays a major part here. Some of the paintings introduce the folkloric motifs of celebration, anticipation, and transition. Far from providing a mere backdrop or explaining the characters’ personality, they create a certain space in which a personal story fits into a broader cultural tradition. At the same time, traditional details do not turn these artworks into period pieces, as they clearly belong in the artist’s expressly contemporary visual language. Vibrant colours and unusual compositions further enhance their impact.

With three-dimensional works, this focus on impression rather than likeness is even more prominent. Even with faces distorted, bodies disjointed, and formal likeness nearly erased, the female characters’ presence lingers in shape, pattern, texture, and spatiality of the object. Leaning away from overly realistic rendering, the artist zeroes in not on the obvious features, but on the things they conceal. His interest lies in the ‘clash between a person’s subjective affects and the objective and impenetrable things happening in spite of one’s will or wish.’