The Essence of Place
The Project, The Essence of Place, is a long-lasting encounter I have been having with different places: languages, people, traditions, food, smells and everything I learned from these experiences, which became part of me and the way I view the world around me. All these events live simultaneously in my mind as collages of places, dreams and memories they produce or evoke.
I have a very special relationship with color and texture probably more than with anything else. A prolongation of vision into touch creates the bond, connection, and transcendental experience. As a creative, I tried to capture what I saw through photography and my old Canon camera, as well as my cellphone. The main challenge, however, is to evoke the feeling of presence and connection, to be a co-creator of the experience, the necessity to have material evidence in a form that speaks to me but also can be shared.
I usually start with the canvas and mix Venetian plaster, tempera, or acrylics to create a visual abstraction that has qualities of a specific place. I work to the point that even by itself the background speaks to me. I rarely use brushes. I prefer my hands which create an intimate connection with the work, where, in the words of Merleau-Ponty, “…the visible world and the world of my motor projects are both total parts of the same Being.” Then I use a mixed-media technique and intuitive approach I learned some time ago from my art teacher, artist Rose Marie Prins, during a workshop at her studio. Where without representational imagery, I created my visualization of Time.
Later, I used the same method to make my first mixed-media painting that connects me with one of my favorite places, St. Petersburg, Russia, where I grew up. I used watercolor and hand-torn images of the old calendar my mom sent me, with pictures of channels, streetlights and buildings. I created a painting that speaks to my soul and evokes a particular feeling and connection I have with the place.
The city is located in the northern part of the country, and is famous for the lack of sunny days, but rather, drizzling rains and cold winds. While growing up there, I looked at the place from the glass windows of buildings and cars. The long streaks of rain would alter the view by creating abstract illusions with familiar images distorted by rain; whereas the world outside feels cold, wet and mysterious.
The main objective of The Essence of Place is to share the experience with people who had a chance to visit the same parts of the world, but also to share a vision of the place with others who have never visited, so their interpretations can become an experience.
