Samruk, 2010. Source: T. Zh. Tokhtabaeva, ‘Ethnomodernism in the Symbolic Embroidery of Zeynelkhan and Botagoz Mukhametjan’. Almaty: ‘LA GR CE’ LLP, 2020
Zeynelkhan Botagoz
This work demonstrates the process of transformation of traditional artistic practices and symbolic systems that is characteristic of early 21st-century art. At the heart of the work lies a reinterpretation of the tambour stitch technique, which is historically linked to Kazakh art and was predominantly used in the ornamental decoration of utilitarian textile objects. In this instance, the technique is removed from its applied context and elevated to the status of an autonomous artistic language capable of forming complex abstract compositional structures. The central thematic core of the work is the image of Samruk – a mythical bird associated with the ideas of rebirth, the cyclical nature of existence and mediation between worlds. However, in this interpretation, the mythological image undergoes a process of artistic deconstruction: the figure of Samruk is not depicted in a figurative form, but dissolves into a system of dynamic lines, patches of colour and rhythmic structures, thereby shifting it from the realm of the narrative symbol into the field of abstract visuality.