ANA MIRALLES
DJINN
The Treasure (T.4), Dargaud 2004
Original plate n° 5 accompanied by its nine preparatory stages to the graphite on tracing paper. Signed. Watercolor and India ink on paper
31.8 × 41.4 cm (12.52 × 16.26 in.)
By nature, the slender figures, haughty head carriages, high breasts, and spindly legs of her creatures are flawless. However, Ana Miralles says that the women of the historical harems, where she often sets the adventures of her heroines, were much rounder than the image offered by her comic book - as evidenced by numerous old photos. So why this infidelity to the truth? Because every narrative genre obeys codes. The story needs a framework and characters in line with the tastes of its time. Ana Miralles knows that to put on paper a vision that is too veristic would be a challenge. On second thought, this is what makes her an authentic Orientalist artist: she does not portray an elsewhere as it is, nor even as she perceives it, but as her readers dream it, nudity and exotic fantasies included. And yet, look closely at these two plates. You will discover there, mixed with the sculptural beauties, chubbier female physiques - in fact not less desirable, because more human. These characters, half hidden in the background and reserved for those who know how to see, are one of the spaces of freedom that the artist allows himself.
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