Venus Reassembled · Title: Venus Reassembled Series: Influence Dimensions: 120 × 80 cm Medium: Collage, acrylic, epoxy resin, plexiglass on canvas Who is she — this new Venus, reborn not from the sea, but from the glossy pages of modern desire? In this work, the artist revisits Botticelli’s Birth of Venus — the timeless image of purity, grace, and natural beauty — and overlays it with a delicate yet unsettling collage made from magazine cutouts and fragments of contemporary media. From a distance, the form remains familiar, even classical. But as the viewer draws closer, the surface reveals itself to be a mosaic of fashion, advertising, and illusion. Layer by layer, the goddess is covered — reshaped by the ideals imposed upon her. Her skin, once luminous and human, is replaced by printed perfection. Her presence, once divine, becomes curated. This modern Venus embodies the silent transformation of women in the age of influence: when beauty, instead of being born, is assembled; when identity becomes a collage of what society deems desirable. Through this dialogue between past and present, the painting asks: What remains of authenticity when the image of beauty is rewritten by imitation? And can the true self still emerge beneath the layers of what the world expects her to be?
Finalist
Moments of Life 2025
Venus Reassembled
Viktorika, France
MediumTitle: Venus Reassembled Series: Influence Dimensions: 120 × 80 cm Medium: Collage, acrylic, epoxy resin, plexiglass on canvas Who is she — this new Venus, reborn not from the sea, but from the glossy pages of modern desire? In this work, the artist revisits Botticelli’s Birth of Venus — the timeless image of purity, grace, and natural beauty — and overlays it with a delicate yet unsettling collage made from magazine cutouts and fragments of contemporary media. From a distance, the form remains familiar, even classical. But as the viewer draws closer, the surface reveals itself to be a mosaic of fashion, advertising, and illusion. Layer by layer, the goddess is covered — reshaped by the ideals imposed upon her. Her skin, once luminous and human, is replaced by printed perfection. Her presence, once divine, becomes curated. This modern Venus embodies the silent transformation of women in the age of influence: when beauty, instead of being born, is assembled; when identity becomes a collage of what society deems desirable. Through this dialogue between past and present, the painting asks: What remains of authenticity when the image of beauty is rewritten by imitation? And can the true self still emerge beneath the layers of what the world expects her to be?
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About the artist
Viktorika is a professional artist with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Arts of Ukraine (2003–2008). In 2014, she also completed a Photography School in Ukraine. She is a member of the ACA – Association des Amis de Jean, an organization that unites artists and promotes contemporary art and cultural exchange.
Biography provided by the artist
