"Subsurface Whispers" Artwork

My name is Ketevan Davitashvili, also known in the art world as Rockate. I currently live in Borjomi - a small town on the edge of a forest, surrounded by pine trees and moss. I get inspired, learn, observe the nature - all the layers, organic shapes, beauty in the chaos. I also love finding the unusual combinations and connections with the human-made material world too - using the things that weren't intended to be used in art, occasionally.

I grew up in Tbilisi, Georgia. I was born in 1993, growing up during long periods without electricity, gas and water, collecting twigs for our woodstove, cutting snowflakes out of paper to create intricate shades by the candlelight... Playing outside in the midst of trash, black smoke or rubber tire bonfires, and occasional violence, I found beauty and interest in a multitude of things - burying flower petals under glass, creating "paint" from sawdust, noticing patterns on old metal sheets... I was also always drawn to art, had access to some art supplies at home and enjoying diving into the world of shapes.

I was always waiting for some big event to get back to my art, until it bubbled up and started flowing out of me, and I started sketching almost daily, wherever I was, whatever I was doing, going for years, developing my craft. I developed my style through combining my inner world, my consistent practice, and the beautiful world around me. I have synesthesia - I "see" music, people, events, in colors, and it's very self-fullfilling to let them bleed onto canvas.

I like creating abstract 3d textured pieces which resemble the organic shapes we know and have seen - lichen, contours of continents, ridges on a planet seen through a telescope - yet aren't quite identical to them, but have their own lives and stories. I like expressing the inner worlds through portraits. I'm drawn to mountains, which I tend to present with unrealistic, vivid colors.