The idea of the project lies in the interaction of art with nature, giving a man-made object the opportunity to narrow the distance between them and become part of the natural landscape. In the chaos of modern life, the boundary between reality and the virtual world, between the past and the present, between the personal and the general is erased. The aim of the project is to show how one can establish distance in time, overcome distance, approach the past or, conversely, lose connection.
When an image is placed in a natural environment, it is always an adventure. Since each time the object looks different and changes depending on how nature itself changes (time of day, weather conditions). The objects become a symbolic visual imprint of the inner essence of a person, in which the legacy of the past and the potential that determines the future have merged together. This idea is emphasized by the materials and means chosen for the project. Transparent film allows objects to be seen through, as if bypassing the abyss of centuries. The objects dissolve into the surrounding landscape, thereby merging with nature and even becoming one with it. Mirrors reflect the surrounding environment, allowing the viewer to enter the object’s “field of vision” and become an integral part of it. In this way, one can observe the transformation and adaptation of the object to a new environment, similar to how a person does it.
Ornament, which has the unique ability to reproduce the worldview of eras and peoples, is also considered in the project as the oldest and most refined form of abstraction. Drawing on the stylistics of ethnic Slavic motifs and transforming them into a contemporary form, the project does not use specific images, symbols, or elements from folk art. All images are my imagination. I use one of the old graphic techniques — stencil printing. This is a kind of search for a synthesis between ancient times and the present day.
The composition on the objects is conceived in such a way as to emphasize the connection with ancient (first) images, when static forms were used and images were rendered in a flat and decorative manner. As if this were the first image with encrypted symbols and signs.
Looking back into the past, one can feel like transparent film, without embellishment. A frozen frame, a stencil that reflects personal memories and one’s roots. A stencil that passes from generation to generation. Like DNA, which in its essence is also a pattern — an ornament in which nature has embedded the code of Life. The “Distance” project is a search for cultural identity rooted in the archaic, and for new forms of presentation, a dialogue with the past in the realities of the present day. After all, humanity has always sought ways to preserve and encode information.