120 x 120 cm, Acrylic on canvas, collageSabina Bockemühl’s work shows a frontal depiction of a cow’s head, distinguished by an unusual combination of animal portraiture and ornamental textile structure. The animal’s surface is interwoven with carpet motifs, floral patterns and luminous fields of color – a reference to craft traditions, in particular Oriental textiles and their symbolic significance. The composition oscillates between figuration and abstraction: the animal remains recognizable, yet its physical presence is dematerialized by the textile pattern. This recalls tendencies of Pop Art, but also the Pattern and Decoration movement of the 1970s, which rehabilitated decor and ornament as an artistic language in their own right. At the same time, the work evokes a critical rereading of rural iconography: the cow – a classic motif of agrarian romanticism – is translated here into a postmodern, visually opulent pictorial language that raises questions of cultural hybridity, surface and identity.
