BIRDS AND ANGELS

 

Last spring when I did the Blog on the Myrrhbearers (April 4, 2020) I used the image by  VIKTORYIA KULVANOUSKAYA, who interested me to delve further.  I could find little on her life, but she has a prolific  amount of art.

She was  born in Minsk in 1963 is a contemporary Belarusian artist who works in easel painting in the genres of landscape, still life, and religious painting. She has been influenced by the art of Paul Cezanne,  Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, and even Giotto.

 Viktoryia's first teacher and mentor was her father, the famous Belarusian theater artist V.P. Kulvanousky, who undoubtedly influenced the formation the artist's personality and creative views.  From 1979 to1983 she studied at Minsk State Art College.

 

Viktoryia was able to discover her own individual pictorial language by exploring the artistic discoveries of proto-Renaissance art: here she borrowed icon-painting conventions and the combination of linear and inverse perspectives to transform city buildings into crystalline structures.

Viktoryia works in a single plastic medium in which figures and architectural forms are transformed into generalized stage images that are filled with dynamism and that create a sense that the world is undergoing continuous change.

 The radiance of the stars, crosses, and domes in the artist’s complex compositions is achieved by the dense clustering of color and the use of impasto. Advanced pictorial technique and precise composition that takes account of even the smallest details allow Viktoryia to explore even the most complex topics in her work. 

The artist says she has devoted herself to studying the spiritual side of mankind. Each one of her works is filled with a sense of contact with the sublime.

Other than the first picture-  The Sisters, Martha and Mary, I have chosen to feature her angels.  She seems to have a great devotion to them, and having just celebrated their feasts in October, it is timely to show her work.  She also features birds throughout her works, which of course tickles my fancy. Not only does she have an amazing color palate, but she uses architecture in her work as background.

Right:  Angel with Birds

Left:    Angel Brings the Soul of a Child to Earth

Right   Guardian Angel

Left:  Two Angels