Artist Statement

How would you explain the key attributes of your technique?

To begin with I would like to stress that it is crucial for my art that I do everything myself (this is my concept) from putting together stretchers, to stretching canvas and priming it. I would compare myself to a medieval painter, who did everything himself. Only if I do everything myself, I feel that this new picture is totally mine from the very start to the end, I want to experience the birth of the painting. I absolutely cannot paint on commercially primed canvases, which you can buy in an art materials shop.

I use oil and acrylics on canvas and endless glazing and flowing technique (priming). When I create works on paper I use mixed media.

Of course, I have my own little secrets, like any other painter has. I am interested in texture and I spend a lot of time preparing the texture and priming. The key moment here is the texture, I learn about texture from the live and dead nature. Be it the bark of the trees or wings of butterflies, or rotting flesh of fruits. In a similar way, when I start creating my watercolours on paper, I very often use flower pollen and dub it into the paper, I use juice of the aloe vera plant, pomegranate juice or, even my own blood if I sometimes happen to cut my finger in the process. This way I become an artist who mixes his blood with ink.

Dust is gold. I call on dust to become my ally, my co-author, by spending long time creating my canvases. I even leave my paintings horizontally on the floor, so that the pores of my specially created texture absorb as much dust as possible. Complex texture of my canvases works as a trap for insects and dust, so I carry on creating my picture and mixing oils with insects and dust. Eventually, during the process of creating my picture - and this is a lengthy process, the surface of the picture starts to live its own independent life – a tiny midge crawls onto the surface, or a fly lands right on an object which it is attracted to in the picture, so I expertly manipulate my brush and pin it onto the canvas. Some of the insects have just visited the magnificent flowers outside and now they carry on to draw on my painting, creating their amazing trajectories on my canvas, seen only by me, continuing my own lines and adding to colours created by me. O summer and sun, bless you!

What motivates your creativity? What fascinates you, why pick that particular subject to portray?

To begin with it is the art, the world art. Especially the medieval art and the avant-garde art of the XX century. As of lately I have been inspired by one quote I read somewhere, that the real artist has to become and alchemist again and lock himself in a loft or in a basement, away from the rest of the world. And if this does not happen, then you may say that the art of painting has died (this is what I feel).

The words of the ancient Greek author Ovidius 'and he sets his mind to unknown arts'. What inspires me - life itself in all its beauty and horror!! Ideas for my pictures spontaneously come to me in my dreams. I often think about a story or a legend about what's happened to a XVIII century English poet (I do not remember his name). He had a dream one day that he was in a mysterious and wonderful place and when he woke up - he had a flower in his hand, a flower from that place, the place he saw in his dream!! Ideas or whole compositions come to me in my dreams - I would compare it with that flower in hand. Life is a mysterious procession.