This project is a response to the fragmented nature of our understanding of the world, the information we receive, the ways we perceive it, and the structure of our thinking.
The project originated as a reaction to the collapse of my coherent worldview following the onset of the war in Ukraine, and investigates the possibility of building a more stable worldview not within the fragile surface of external reality, but at the threshold of the unconscious. It considers the inner world not as a form of escapism, but as a tool for engaging with reality.
The image of the Forest was first born out of the profound upheaval caused by photos documenting mass graves discovered in the forests near Izium and Irpin in Ukraine. Later, it became entwined with the archetypal forest of myths and fairy tales, shaped through Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ reflections in “Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype”.
Formally, the project unfolds as a journey from reality into a symbolic inner Forest. It begins with the Grove — medium-format images of urban trees in diverse media, suspended by metal cords. Through these fragments of reality, appears Emotion: the emotional background — what has replaced the disintegrated worldview — seeps through.
Deeper still lies the Thicket. With its wild, unrestrained greens in varied shades, it floods the canvases with expressive abstraction. I consider the heart of this elemental force the ideal place for reflection and for forming a renewed image of the world. It brings together fragments of reality, memory, myth, and the unconscious into a kind of fresco — a synthesis of inner perception.
Yet the fragmented nature of our perception, thinking, and knowledge makes it impossible to see the Forest as a whole. The edges of the canvas curl inward; the Forest obscures itself, and on the back of the canvas, the Reverse side of the Forest emerges — abstractly referencing its root system. Ultimately, the project questions whether the Forest — as a metaphor for meaning — can ever be fully seen, or only intuited through its fragments.
“The emotion”, 2023
135x230cm I 53,1x90,5in
oil, canvas
"The Fresco" (a study)
The work will be executed in oil on canvas. The edges of the canvas will extend beyond the stretcher and curl inward,
supported by a curved metal plate. The back side will depict the Reverse side of the Forest.
estimated size 100x200 cm
"The wild Woman" (a study)
The work will be executed on both sides of a single canvas. The upper part folds forward,
supported by curved metal plates attached to the stretcher and a metal mesh.
estimated size 160x110 cm
Studies for "the Thicket"
Studies for "the Reverse side of the Forest"
