Thoughts on Painting

I recently returned to Ukraine from a series of events in London. The conversations and interactions with people at these events and exhibitions sparked a few thoughts on my artwork.

Sunday

I believe artworks are puzzles to be interpreted, usually raising more questions than answers. The journey of exploring, learning about and understanding an artwork should unravel in a satisfying way - too simple or obvious a work holds the attention only for a short time, whereas a work that is fiendishly inaccessible is similarly unengaging. Finding the balance to allow for conversation between the viewer and the piece, development of an idea and hopefully some revelation or satisfaction is for me the goal of creating something which serves you the viewer.

Tuesday

(I sometimes find it harder to write about painting, I wrote the following paragraphs about my cooking habits and realised I was really writing about painting!)

I love to cook, but I don't often enjoy following recipes.

I am quite spontaneous with my cooking, I don't often plan meals more than 24 hours ahead and very often cook based on what ingredients I have in the fridge. Usually, when I shop I buy ingredients I like and think about how they combine later. Sometimes I have a meal planned and will shop for that specific idea.

This is often a super fun challenge and I get to feel a burst of creativity if I only have a few ingredients and have to make a meal from it. I enjoy getting inspired by all foods; I love seeing videos on Instagram or trying to recreate a dish I had when I ate out at a restaurant or a meal a friend made for me. Sometimes the meal I cook is rubbish but occasionally it'll be delicious and something I want to make again and again.

I have some dishes that I love to cook again and again, I have a vague idea of a recipe in my head, but it's always evolving, open to change based on what I have and what I have learned. Each time I cook the dish I want to perfect and improve the result and make it better or with a unique twist. I do most measurements of ingredients by eye or by taste and tweaking the balance is part of the journey.

When I cook I like to have fun, be free and share it with people I love, at times it's hard work or stressful, but the results are often something of which I am proud to say: "I cooked this!"

Wednesday

I love how the pencil drawing and the more realistic style of painting and the blocks of colour all pull the mood in different directions and expose different layers of the creative act, which mirrors our layered experience of life. There are many levels to each experience we have and we exist as a coming together of many fragments of many moments from our lives; memories, feelings, thoughts and our physical bodies. So these pieces try and explore and celebrate some of that complexity.