WALL PAINTING IN THE INSTITUTION OF SLOVENIA FOREST SERVICE
WALL PAINTING IN THE INSTITUTION OF SLOVENIA FOREST SERVICE
Sculptor Slavko Tihec, whose oeuvre rarely featured painting, managed to achieve a three-dimensional form, otherwise typical of sculpture, in his decoration of the basement wall of the Slovenia Forest Service in Maribor. This effect is enhanced by a limited colour palette (white, black, green and ochre) and the sgraffito (scratch) technique. By removing the plaster, the author reveals the desired layers of colour and creates a multicolour relief surface with imprecise details. He depicted stylised trees, undergrowth and two birds, integrating the mural’s content with the working environment of the Slovenia Forest Service. The two birds are probably woodpeckers, common to Slovenian woods, also known for the distinctive way in which they walk up tree trunks. In designing this decoration, Tihec drew upon his “leaf forms”, which he used in the early 60s and which later developed into his famous Traffic Lights - large fan-like shaped sculptures on slim bases. Each Traffic Light has at least one spherical core, which resembles “the eye” of the sculpture. Particularly reminiscent of that work is the tree in the right section of the sgraffito, where a small white square serves as “the eye” of the Traffic Light.
(Jure Donša, in the framework of the Creative Path to Knowledge project, Virtual guide; The investment is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union from the European Social Fund)
