FRONTIER [diptych]

"FRONTIER" [diptych] is the first completed work of 2020 (painted in February, shortly before the epidemic hits China and Europe). This artwork has become incredibly relevant against the background of a global pandemic, where every day the concept of frontiers, borders - from external, political, economic and geographical to internal social and deeply personal - is transformed and felt in a new, acute way.

The artwork is multifaceted in a literal (bright expressive of crystallism) and figurative meanings. Immersion in the semantic space begins with the first level - this is the chosen format: we can see one space divided into two parts that border on each other. But this stylistic border is not the only one, it is only one of three and perhaps the least significant. Here, on the first level of perception, we fix a special state of space inside the diptych. Ordered by geometry, mesmerizing by the depth of colors and the play of crystal faces, it moves, changes shape, splits into parts. The change is already inevitable, although it is not yet obvious - this crucial parallel with the real events of the present time. The only thing that seems stable and unchangeable is the conditional wolf that meets us at the second frontier / level of perception.

Why is the wolf conditional? Because for many people, he is not seen as a wolf, but as a dragon or other mystical beast. From person to person, the appearance of this being changes, but its essence is understood on an intuitive level unmistakably - before us is a guardian who guards the frontier of the sacred space of the spirit; a guardian who protects and simultaneously transforms the hidden order of things. And what is chaos if not an infinite transformation of the cosmic order?

Sooner or later, we reach the third level of perception, where we make a mental transition from our reality to the crystalline space. We cross the last border over a shining bronze bridge. By our sudden revelation, by our close attention, we hold the bridge on one side; the wolf holds it on the other. He meets us with a glittering gaze in the dark. And then there is another, perhaps the most important transformation - we begin to associate ourselves with a mystical being on the border of darkness and light, which separated by a fragile crystal barrier. Only here, at this junction of time, space, light and darkness, does the mesmerizing radiance of its facets become possible. Only in this way, when we become a wolf, we can understand what is really going on inside: we guard the frontier or destroy it, hide in the dark or strive for light. We understand what is around us - chaos or order.

FRONTIER [DIPTYCH] · 2020 · CRYSTALLISM

mixed media: oil on canvas, acrylic, permanent marker

120 Х 40 cm - one part size