Echoes of Stillness: Tamara Andjus’s Intimate Ballet in ‘Silence
July 7, 2025
In the hush of a twilight studio, where the echoes of pointe shoes fade into the velvet dark, Tamara Andjus finds her subject. “Silence,” a 2025 acrylic on canvas painting created in Switzerland, stands as a poetic testament to that tender interval between movement and stillness — the sacred pause when a dancer, momentarily adrift in her own thoughts, communes with something far beyond the stage.
Andjus, a Serbian-Swiss artist known for her intimate figurative paintings, channels a vocabulary that is less about the physical details of the body and more about the intangible atmosphere surrounding it. Her works are not mere depictions; they are gentle invitations to inhabit a private universe. In “Silence,” the viewer is granted a rare vantage point — not as an audience member watching a performance unfold, but as a confidant allowed backstage, where vulnerability eclipses spectacle.
The Language of the Back
The most striking choice in “Silence” is Andjus’s decision to paint the ballerina from behind. This compositional strategy recalls a tradition in Western art where the back becomes a site of psychological projection. From Degas’s countless ballet scenes to the solitary backs in Edward Hopper’s work, turning away signals a withdrawal from the external gaze and an immersion into inner contemplation.
Here, the ballerina’s spine is a lyrical line, a delicate stem supporting the weight of memory and desire. Her bare shoulders, rendered with soft, luminous brushwork, suggest both fragility and quiet strength. There is no face to interpret, no expression to analyze; instead, Andjus pushes the viewer to feel rather than scrutinize.
In contemporary figurative painting, the decision to withhold facial identity invites a universalizing empathy. We do not see her eyes, but we sense her breath, the slight contraction of her back as though she’s preparing for a pirouette or recovering from an emotional crescendo. This moment, captured on the threshold of action and repose, becomes an eloquent embodiment of silence.
Acrylic as a Medium of Atmosphere
Acrylic paint, chosen by Andjus for this work, is often celebrated for its versatility and capacity for layering. In “Silence,” the acrylic’s rapid drying time allows for impulsive, gestural strokes that evoke the fleeting nature of performance. Unlike oil’s contemplative slowness, acrylic permits Andjus to build up hazy veils and sudden light flares, resulting in a visual rhythm akin to a dancer’s swift footwork.
The dark, swirling background is not a simple stage backdrop but an emotional fog, an abstract expanse where light diffuses into soft halos. It swallows and releases the figure simultaneously, like memory and longing coexisting within a single breath. One detects echoes of abstract expressionism, particularly in the atmospheric brushstrokes reminiscent of Gerhard Richter’s blurred figurations, yet Andjus retains the figurative anchor to keep us grounded in narrative.
The Choreography of Stillness
“Silence” suggests a choreography made not of steps but of pauses. While ballet often focuses on explosive leaps and extended lines, Andjus illuminates the quiet pivot inward. It is the dancer’s intimate preparation, her inhalation before the music resumes, her private liturgy away from the audience’s expectant gaze.
The tutu, depicted with a feathery energy, floats like a spectral halo around her hips. Each brushstroke seems to ripple outward, capturing the lingering vibrations of movement. The subtle interplay of grays and whites suggests softness yet also a restrained tension — the paradox that defines ballet itself. The tutu’s luminous quality contrasts with the darker ground, signifying the dancer’s inner light pushing against the encroaching dark.
One might remember Marcel Marceau’s philosophy on silence: that it is not the absence of sound but a presence that speaks in other frequencies. In this painting, silence is not emptiness but an active, sacred space filled with reflection and latent energy.
Historical Echoes: From Degas to Contemporary Introspection
Art historical echoes reverberate through “Silence.” Edgar Degas, the great chronicler of Parisian ballet, repeatedly captured dancers in transitional states: adjusting ribbons, stretching, or resting, offering us a glimpse behind the performance. Yet, while Degas’s works often verge on voyeuristic observation, Andjus’s approach feels more reverent, as though she has been invited into the ballerina’s inner circle.
Furthermore, Andjus distances herself from the glossy perfectionism of classical ballet iconography. Where 19th-century artists might have emphasized idealized anatomy and romantic lighting, Andjus offers an emotional veracity that resonates with contemporary sensibilities. Her dancer is not a remote muse but a living woman confronting her own quiet vulnerabilities.
The influence of modern figurative painters such as Jenny Saville, who explores corporeality with raw intimacy, also hums beneath the surface. However, Andjus’s touch is softer, more lyrical, preferring allusion to confrontation. In the context of 21st-century painting, where the self is constantly projected and performed on digital stages, “Silence” feels radical in its refusal to reveal.
The Philosophy of “Silence”
The title alone prompts philosophical inquiry. Silence, in a broader sense, is often regarded as the ultimate form of communication beyond words. In spiritual traditions, silence is the threshold to transcendence — an arena where the soul listens. In John Cage’s famous piece 4’33”, silence becomes music itself, reframing the act of listening as an active creative engagement.
Similarly, Andjus’s “Silence” compels the viewer to listen with their eyes. It urges us to slow down and inhabit that moment of stillness, to sense the gentle pulse beneath the surface rather than demand narrative or resolution. It becomes a meditation on presence — the artist’s presence, the dancer’s presence, and ultimately, our own.
The Poetic Potential of the Ordinary
One of Andjus’s strengths lies in her capacity to find poetry in the ostensibly mundane. A lone figure standing quietly, viewed from behind, could easily slip into insignificance, yet here it acquires monumental emotional weight. Through subtle shifts of color and movement, Andjus suggests an entire psychic landscape.
The small flare of yellow light on the upper left, barely perceptible, serves as a symbolic north star. Is it an open door backstage? A spotlight not yet trained on her? Or perhaps an inner illumination — the mind’s quiet flame? Such ambiguity grants the painting its lyrical expansiveness.
Feminine Solitude and the Gaze
“Silence” also invites contemplation on femininity and solitude. In the long tradition of depicting women in art, the female figure has often been rendered as a passive object for the male gaze. Andjus subverts this by refusing us access to the dancer’s face and emotions directly. Instead, we are left with her strong back, her stance, her implied consciousness turned away from us.
The ballerina becomes a sovereign subject rather than a spectacle. In her quietude, she asserts a form of agency — her silence is not submission but sovereignty, a boundary against intrusion. This approach resonates with feminist readings of contemporary portraiture, where the act of turning away can symbolize reclamation of one’s narrative.
Technical Subtleties and Textural Dance
On a purely technical level, Andjus’s painting rewards close viewing. The textured impasto on the tutu, achieved through layered acrylic applications, mirrors the tactile experience of tulle against skin. The smoother transitions on the dancer’s back reveal a tender attentiveness, each gradient shift articulating bone and muscle beneath.
The floor’s abstract scumbling, a dance of grays and off-whites, suggests both physical and emotional terrain. It is as though the dancer stands on a stage of her own making, neither fully real nor fully imagined. The brush marks imply motion while preserving a sense of stasis — a masterful balancing act reflecting the dual nature of dance itself.
A Liminal Space for Viewers
“Silence” offers viewers a liminal space, a threshold between exterior spectacle and interior world. In a contemporary context saturated by noise — visual, auditory, informational — Andjus’s work feels like an invitation to pause and listen inwardly.
This painting does not demand interpretation; rather, it whispers. The viewer is gently guided into a shared moment of introspection, mirroring the dancer’s own retreat. It becomes a mirror not of what we see but of how we feel when faced with the immensity of our own inner silences.
Impression
Tamara Andjus’s “Silence” is more than a portrait of a ballerina; it is an essay on existence rendered in paint. It engages with art historical dialogues, feminist re-readings, and contemporary existential reflections, all while maintaining a core of lyrical simplicity.
In an era where noise often substitutes for substance, “Silence” reclaims the sanctity of pause. It celebrates the quiet intervals where transformation happens — the unseen labor, the private preparation, the unarticulated dreams. Through this painting, Andjus offers not just a visual experience but an emotional refuge.
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