The painting “Dartlo” is a pair to the painting “Omalo”, although this artwork was inspired by memories of a town much further away and higher than Omalo in the mountains of Tusheti, Georgia. During the winter, not a single person lives in this town. Therefore, there is an atmosphere of silent nature that takes over the place every autumn, forcing people to leave such an unapproachable and harsh place.
I wanted to depict the image of a city created by distant ancestors in one of the most inaccessible places in the world. I tried to imagine how people found so much strength to fight natural forces one-on-one, to manage their lives in the highlands, to survive the severe winter in these places, and to drive flocks of sheep back out to the highest pastures in the summer.
I was also very curious about the town’s buildings, the tall and narrow towers, which could be reached through the cellars of the small houses nearby. Imagine, in order to get to the nearest town in a modern jeep, from there in the summer in dry weather, you have to leave at sunrise to reach down to the first paved highway by sunset.
