Crying Belly, 2021

Oil-based ink and oil stick on linen
© Portia Zvavahera; courtesy Stevenson and David Zwirner
Photo by Ian Reeves

The unconscious realm is a guiding force for Portia Zvavahera: the artist uses her dreams as a source for the vivid imagery that inhabits her monumentally scaled, expressionistic compositions. In her works, which integrate gestural painting with intricate printmaking techniques, primal, ghostlike figures merge with patterned fields of vibrant color that expand across the canvas. Densely layered brushstrokes form the backdrop to enigmatic narratives in which figures with female attributes, stand-ins for Zvavahera herself, appear alongside symbolic creatures such as owls and bulls, which become mediums for interpreting the artist’s visions. Operating between the fantastical and the allegorical, these complex scenes are nonetheless grounded in an earthly plane. Crying Belly depicts an encounter between two beings who appear unequal in stature, one physically dominating the other. The blue hand of the figure at the top of the frame hovers menacingly above the head of the lower figure, whose wide-open mouth denotes fear, or anger, and protest.