The painting ‘Olga I Irina’ is one in a series of paintings of synchronised swimmers by Sándor Rácmolnár [1960, Miskolc]. Over almost 30 years, Rácmolnár has developed a distinctive artistic oeuvre, in which the graphic world of comic books, themes of popular culture as well as computer fonts feature and fit together harmoniously. Rácmolnár's concise, figurative-decorative works often reflect events and the environment of the time, which is how his series of synchronised swimming women was born in 2009. The pair of swimmers, centrally placed and sharply contoured on the canvas, depict rigid figures with an archaic effect. Tight lines are counterbalanced by the unpredictability of the painterly surfaces, with regular and irregular patterns complementing each other. The painting shows the tension of the parallels and experiments with the visual possibilities of synchronicity. The concentration of the figures, the discipline of their bodies, the curves of their limbs move in harmony. The swimmers’ facial features show an expressionless neutrality which, combined with the repetitive patterns, capture our attention and create a sense of strangeness and distance. Mesmerised by the synchronisation, our eyes widen and wander inquisitively, fascinated by the spectacle of the two figures. Visual details such as the lines of nose clips, earlobes, rippling foams of water and soft surfaces of skin complement thin lines of arched eyebrows and droopy eyelids to create playful and decorative elements that both attract the eye and relieve the tense concentration that the subject matter creates. The neutral facial expressions of the synchronised swimmers are evocative of masked Japanese ‘noh theatre’ actors where gestures and movements add emotion to their otherwise expressionless faces. The painting is intense and yet maintains a sense of play and duality.