PAINTING
ROBERT RICOV
 
DETAILS
Oil on canvas
76 x 100 cm
2020
 
DESCRIPTION
Since You Left Me is a breathtaking oil painting by the Australian artist Robert Ricov. The work explores feelings of loss and sadness, as well as the complex recognition of a moment one might regret, but does not.
 
At the center sits a doll atop an antique syringe: the idealized female form, yet plastic and cold. She holds a golden apple, a biblical symbol of temptation elevated to an even more precious sin. The syringe’s contents are left ambiguous, inviting the viewer to decide whether it represents medicine or poison.
 
Two crows, one black and one white, occupy opposing spaces in the composition. Their contrasting expressions suggest that nothing in the depicted relationship was truly black or white. They evoke a fractured yin-yang, separated by the viewer’s interpretation of the liquid below.
 
At the bottom, a couple represents a more personal memory: the woman, flirtatious and teasing, and the man, referred to as the rat man, reflecting how she once saw him. Through these layered symbols, Ricov captures the interplay of desire, memory, and emotional ambiguity, leaving the ultimate judgment to the observer.
 
BIOGRAPHY
Robert Ricov b. 1973 Sydney, Australia BA 1994, College of Visual Arts, Sydney. Robert Ricov has been living, working, and exhibiting in Croatia since he moved there in 2022.
His oil paintings, in a style he refers to as “surreal maximalist realism,” use symbolism to represent themes such as the loss of innocence, betrayal, and hope.
In October of 2023, Robert traveled to the island of Menorca, Spain, where Guillermo Lorca and Martin Wittfooth mentored him.
It wasn’t until a few months after that he realized how profoundly this experience affected the direction of his work.