His narratives often included a recognisable image of himself, thereby honestly underlining the existential involvement and authenticity of his personal experience. Painting was like a cleansing therapy for him, helping him heal the wounds that were the result of his many frustrations. At the same time, painting enabled him to create surprisingly meaningful universal messages woven from the simple and straightforward feelings of his troubled core. These messages helped him bridge the divide between himself and the established social reality, but at the same time – unwittingly and unconsciously – to tear down the hypocritical walls of phony petty-bourgeois values and vanity. And it is precisely this unpretentious ambiguity, which always allows us to recognise real art, that is one of the greatest strengths of Tisnikar’s painting.

Text: Marko Košan