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Run #2626a

Edition Size 7519 Available

This RUN comes signed, numbered and with a Certificate of Authenticity from Ravi Zupa and 1xRUN.

"This has been a rough several years for everyone, all over the world. And although there are clear signs that good things are starting to move, it will likely become more difficult before it gets easier. 

I wanted to make a piece that acknowledged that difficulty without being cynical or bleak. Something with beauty and optimism. The Kinnara is a mythical creature found in much of Asia. Details vary depending on the region but in southeast Asia they are part bird and part human. They act as protectors, watching over the well being of humans during times of hardship or danger. 

For the text, I chose the poem “When all my five and country senses see” by Dylan Thomas. Like most of his poems the meaning is not very straightforward on first reading but it leaves one with an uneasiness and sadness. It describes a sadness and frustration and a falling away of love and optimism but it does so with elegance. It asks as the psychological environment for Kinnara to reside in. 

The style of this piece is inspired by Sak Yant tattoo art from Thailand and Cambodia. Which is text heavy and dense which I tend to be drawn to. The tradition of this type of tattoo is deeply connected to religious processes and the tattoos themselves act as prayers and invocations." - Ravi Zupa

Denver, Colorado

All of Ravi Zupa’s images are drawn and painted by his hand. He considers books the best way to experience art and has spent decades studying art from cultures and movements that span history and originate from nearly all geographical regions. Being entirely self-taught, he looks for inspiration in works by German Renaissance print makers, Flemish primitives, abstract expressionists, Japanese woodblock artists, Mughal paintings, religious iconography from Europe, Asia and Pre-Columbian Latin America, and revolutionary propaganda the world over. With a distaste for ironic art or the thoughtless appropriation of culture, he integrates seemingly unrelated images in search of something universal.

Ravi Zupa’s art education started with his family and continued on at his local library. Zupa has spent the last decades studying art from cultures and movements that span history and originate from nearly all geographical regions. He considers books the best way to experience art. Being entirely self-taught, he looks for inspiration in works by German Renaissance print makers, Flemish primitives, abstract expressionists, Japanese woodblock artists, Mughal paintings, religious iconography from Europe, Asia and pre-Columbian Latin America, and revolutionary propaganda the world over. With a distaste for ironic art or the thoughtless appropriation of culture, Zupa seeks to integrate these disparate elements in search of some universal experience that explains, at least in part, what our incredibly fortunate historical position might mean.

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