Silent Conversation

Silent Conversation is one of those paintings that takes me back to something I discovered quite early in my art journey: I really love painting figures.

During my art-school years in Transylvania, I became drawn to exaggerated, abstract figures and compositions with several characters. There was something about putting people together on a canvas — changing their proportions, simplifying their features and letting the shapes and colours do some of the talking.

I came back to that idea when I painted Silent Conversation in the UK. I wanted to move beyond the colours you might normally reach for and bring in more expressive, unexpected combinations. I also wanted the group to feel full of movement, so I allowed myself to add spontaneous accents and lines as the painting developed.

One of the things I particularly like about this piece is what happened towards the end. The little accents and lines seemed to bring the whole painting further to life, especially against the more muted background. They weren't something I had to plan from the beginning — they appeared as part of the process.

This is still one of my favourite subjects to paint, so I don't think I've finished exploring it yet. Watch this space. 😉

For me, Silent Conversation is less about trying to tell you exactly who these people are or what they're saying, and more about the feeling created by their shapes, colours, gestures and the space between them.

I hope it gives you something similar — a moment of curiosity, a bit of wonder, and simply the pleasure of looking at the shapes and colours coming together.

Dimensions: 30 × 100 × 1.5 cm
Medium: Mixed media on canvas
Signed: By Hoza