Utopia (2024) is an acrylic and ink painting on canvas produced by Petta’s solo exhibition project, Dreamland Chronicles. From the title of the work and the exhibition project’s title, we can understand that the work explores the idea of a utopia in the context of a dream. The painting uses highly saturated colours and seems extremely fluid as there is disunity in where everything has been placed, which helps to give a very dreamy feel.
There is a lot of contrast, especially with the saturated aqua blue against the more earthy or muddy green and the pink background. Further below these elements, an archway or an arched fence-wall seems to be below these elements. These could be reminiscent of classical architecture, which could reference Petta’s interest in art history.
Empire of Light (2024) presents itself with warm reds, oranges and slight hints of gold within the composition. It brings to the viewer- energy and heat, though this is interrupted when the viewer enters into the middle of the painting, which presents a circle of light blue. The areas surrounding this blue circle seem part of an architectural feature due to its geometric lines and perspective. It is as though the blue circle could be a part of a door into the light or another world.
Therefore, what can be interpreted is that the blue circle may be a portal. The background itself is very fiery and tense which helps to give movement to the dream. The movement helps to draw the viewers eye towards the mysterious door to which the viewer must imagine where it leads.
Overall, both works are incredibly abstract and thus allow the viewer to reinterpret these dreams with their own senses. The colours of the work and the movements created within the work help to animate the dreams and for the viewer to insert themselves into these paintings.