The Crown of Love Has Fallen From Me, Only the Thorns Left


 

 

The Crown of Love Has Fallen From Me, Only the Thorns Left / Короната на любовта падна, останаха само бодлите

acrylic, charcoal, watercolor white and lumograph black pencil on 50% cotton Fabriano Rasaspina paper

Image size: 27.5 x 25 cm, Anton Terziev, 2023

Courtesy of the artist
Photo: © the artist

Title credit: Svetoslav Todorov - editor, writer, correspondent

Part of No Time For Losers series of drawings, paintings and objects (2019-)

Photo material use - Briant Ortega's image - an American professional mixed martial artist, who currently competes in the UFC

Terziev’s layered media conjure Brian Ortega’s face as a modern martyr: stark white washes carve out the jagged “thorns” of bruises and scars against deep charcoal shadows. The close-up composition and sculptural pencil strokes freeze an emotional apex, evoking both religious iconography and the gladiatorial theater of the UFC.

This portrait probes the athlete’s dual role as hero and sacrificial figure, exposing our society’s ravenous appetite for violence and the erosion of Western cultural mores. In its visceral chiaroscuro and poignant title, the work stands as both elegy and warning—urging us to reclaim compassion and honor before barbarism and spectacle prevail.