Wig as Cultural Artifact

Playful, colorful and fanciful overall, Komarin’s “The French Wig” allows for a wide of blank-faced idiosyncratic images appeal to the curator and the collector in that it allows each individual to ‘project’ onto that face whatever emotional content they wish to extend. The myriad assortment of braids, flips and tangled tresses highlight Komarin’s ability to be both serious and playful at the same times with these enigmatic and colorful works. They make the viewer smile.

Curator comments on the playful images of The French Wig:

“Komarin is especially attracted to this form: The French Wig – as it is suggestive of so many possible meanings. According to the artist, it is something to put on, a way to cover up, to adorn or to embellish, to hide, to accentuate. These are qualities that relate to the experience in the studio, to the process of making a painting.”

David S. Rubin, Curator of 20th Century Art

The Phoenix Art Museum

Catalogue Essay 1996