Δέντρα

000695 Nikos Yialouris, Trees, 1985, Indian ink and tempera on paper, 50 × 70 cm

Yalouris tended to work on the tree trunk series using Indian ink and reed pen. In the compositions featuring a full moon, the celestial object was rendered in golden colour. On rare occasions, he would introduce colour into the otherwise austere drawing—such as here, where the use of red colour adds visual tension to the surface and heightens the drama of the scene. Two tree trunks are painted against a red background: the hollows, the large and small branches, and the sparse leaves are drawn in black ink. The trunks—rendered in a fast, confident, nervous style, with a distinctly expressionistic manner—seem to personify the sensation of pain. It is no coincidence that Yialouris began painting trunks after a long health struggle, and it was a subject that occupied him throughout the 1980s.