ELENA HARIGA’S ANGELS – Andrei Plesu (catalogue of the 1993 solo exhibition)
One speaks about angels’ “discreet time.” They are neither subjected to a ravenous temporality, as we are, nor are they timeless, since they have been created at a given moment. Angels’ temporality is diminished, it is “discreet” the way their very presence around man is. They accompany and protect us, they try to inspire us, but they never venture to restrict our freedom by a too decisive intervention.
As for discretion, there is a clear affinity between Elena Hariga and her favourite theme. Her talent is not grandiloquent, it does not aspire after the prestige of the great art markets. The proportion, moulding type and program of Elena Hariga’s works belong rather to the domain of the nuance than to that of the massive sentence. But the nuance is rigorously, even forcibly cultivated, betraying a temperament which is the more energetic, the less noisy. The gesture is precise, the idea is firm. Nothing is groundless, there is no hyperstylistic concession within this feverish and rhythmic volumetry, organized according to an imprevisible pluriaxial pattern. Both the structural dumbness and the inner dramatism of sculpture are observed. We move among angels who neither plunge into diaphanousness, nor stand stock-still in moralising postures. The wings are often precarious, the flight, broken, the fall, predictable. Just like Rilke’s seraphim, Elena Hariga’s angels seem sometimes heavy birds, rather embodying the memory of imponderability than its reality. In fact, each angel is a sui-generis iconographic synthesis: tired “eroses” and uncertain “victories,” butterflies, fairies, demons and prophets.
Everything… in an atmosphere of hidden nostalgia, of affectivity lacking illusions. The exhibition “speaks” about forgotten things, but the art of this speech grants them more consistency than that of things encountered in the daily experience. Like any genuine artist, Elena Hariga confirms the unusurpable time of the untimely worlds. Solitary, calm and inspired, she suggests the onlookers that they cannot live as if the angels did not exist.
INGERII ELENEI HARIGA – Andrei Plesu (catalogul expozitiei / 1993)
Se vorbeste despre ,,timpul discret” al ingerilor. Ei nu sunt, ca noi, supusi unei temporalitati devorante, dar nu sunt nici atemporali, de vreme ce au fost creati la un moment dat. Temporalitatea ingerilor e diminuata, ,,discreta”, ca, de altfel, insasi prezenta lor in preajma omului: ei ne insotesc si ne protejeaza, incearca sa ne inspire, dar nu rise! niciodata sa ne limiteze libertatea printr-o interventie prea decisa.
In privinta discretiei, exista o neta afinitate intre Elena Hariga si tema ei predilecta. Talentul ei nu e grandilocvent, nu aspira la prestigiul marilor piete. Prin proportie, prin tipul de modelaj, prin program, lucrarile Elenei Hariga tin mai curand de imperiul nuantei decat de acela al sentintei masive. Dar nuanta e cultivata cu rigoare, cu forta chiar, tradand un temperament cu atat mai energic cu cat e mai putin zgomotos. Gestul e precis, ideea e ferma. Nimic gratuit, nici o concesie calofila in volumetria aceasta febril ritmata, organizata dupa o imprevizibila pluriaxialitate. Se respecta mutenia structurala a sculpturii si drarnatismul ei continut. Ne miscam printre ingeri care nu se pierd in diafan si nu incremenesc in posturi moralizatoare. Aripile sunt adesea precare, zborul, frant, caderea, previzibila. Asemenea serafilor lui Rilke, ingerii Elenei Hariga par uneori pasari grele, intruchipand mai mult memoria imponderabilului decat realitatea lui. De altfel, fiecare inger e o sinteza iconografica sui-generis: in faptura lui coexista ,,erosi” obositi si ,,victorii” incerte, fluturi, zane, demoni si profeti. Totul… !ntr-o atmosfera de nostalgie surda, de afectivitate fara iluzii. Expozitia aceasta vorbeste despre lucruri uitate. Dar o face cu un mestesug care le confera mai multa consistenta decat au lucrurile experientei zilnice. Ca orice artist adevărat, Elena Hariga confirmă actualitatea de neuzurpat a lumilor inactuale. Singură, calmă și inspirată, ea sugerează privitorului că nu se poate trăi ca și cum Îngerii nu ar exista.