“Models” is a series of photographs in which the artist Matei Bejenaru depicts models of plants, handmade from paper, cardboard and plastic, acquired in the 1980s from Germany by the University “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” in Iasi, Romania. The photographs explore the relationship between scientific image, art, and speculative fiction that can appear through the camera lens, connecting the analytical thread of photographic technique and rational knowledge with that of imagination and the mysterious world. The viewer is confronted with a representation of an representation through imitations of the natural world, in which the expressiveness of the forms and structures of the plant world are depicted. These are given an overwhelming dimension, far beyond human stature, becoming landscapes or phantasms of our imagination. The works bear reference to the  photographic aesthetics of Karl Blossfeldt (1865 – 1932), known for his series of plant portraits.

This project is financed by Departamentul pentru Românii de Pretutindeni and supported by  Institutul Cultural Român. 

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