Untie is a culmination of my evolution as an artist.

In Untie, I am suspended in mid-air; helpless and unable to break free. My body is suspended for display and therefore surrendered to viewers. This metaphor portrays the artist as a political body that is captive to materialism and confined by structured spaces.

The installation is constructed of a fabric specially created using my fire reflection technique. I painted the fabric while meditating on the current state of the world. During the process, I cast ashes from the past. Memories that were once intangible are given form as they are reconstructed through mark-making.

Fire-reflection is the most current process of my journey of selfdiscovery and liberation through projects like Manumission, Taming Fire, Burning Words, Wit-ness and 2-dimensional.

Igor Josifov

The theme of freedom runs deep in Untie and through Igor Josifov’s entire opus. Untie poses an existential question of freedom hanging in the balance. For the artist, the preservation of freedom is an absolute necessity. It is an irrefutable, fundamental human right. Freedom is the foundation of any healthy society or nation.

In Untie the artist evokes many struggles and presents a continuous reference line from Dada’s inception to the centennial celebration of Dada Here and Now, where we honor the early Dadaist pioneers who rebelled against oppressive intellectual rigidity in both art and everyday society. Untie is a powerful symbol of a core principle that is shared by artists and citizens who occupy the global stage.

Hanna Regev, Contemporary Art Curator and Author Dada Here and Now, San Francisco International Arts Festival 2016