Carambola #3

Odysseus Krum

47 x 55″

Oil on Canvas

“Carambola” is a highly dynamic surrealist composition, where abstraction, motion, and psychological intensity converge in an intricate visual game of control and unpredictability. Drawing inspiration from billiards, fate, and fragmented perception, the painting immerses the viewer in a world where calculated precision meets the uncontrollable forces of chance.

At the center, a deliberate yet delicate hand cradles the number 13 billiard ball—a symbol of fate, risk, and calculated strategy. The grip suggests control, yet the surrounding elements—swirling colors, geometric shards, and organic distortions—hint at a reality in constant flux. The number 13, often associated with superstition and unpredictability, reinforces the underlying tension between mastery and randomness.

Dominating the left side, a distorted female visage, reminiscent of Cubist deconstruction, remains partially obscured by crisscrossing wooden slats. Her closed eye and silent lips evoke contemplation, suppression, or introspection, contrasting starkly with the surrounding frenetic movement and visual ricochet of forms. This interplay between stillness and chaos, silence and motion, underscores the painting’s thematic depth.

Scattered throughout the composition, elements of a billiards game—cue sticks slicing through space, additional balls, and abstracted table surfaces—become metaphorical battlegrounds of decision-making and consequence. Here, the act of play transforms into a symbolic exploration of life’s unpredictability, where skill and fate exist in constant interplay.

A fan-like shape in the lower right, rendered in bold primary colors, injects a sense of whimsy, nostalgia, and cyclical movement, contrasting with the painting’s more calculated elements. Meanwhile, the palette of deep purples, blues, yellows, and stark whites enhances the high-contrast, almost theatrical energy of the piece. The artist’s brushwork oscillates between hyperrealism and expressive abstraction, adding to the layered complexity of the work.