Dancers #5 Painting by Vadim Puyandaev

Painting: Oil on Canvas.

Nearly 35 years of dancing with my wife, choreographer and dancer Erika Tsimbrovsky, yielded many dance-themed paintings and sculptures. When immersed in Contact Improvisation dancing, I connect with other dancers, and when taking a rest, I observe the joyful experience and make sketches of fellow dancers. This inside-out and outside-in approach captures the dynamic of intensity and relaxation in dancing bodies. The bodies are depicted using unstable, abstract forms and dynamic, expressive colors, thereby instilling a feeling of movement or movement potential, as the bodies playfully appear and disappear on the canvas. I am also drawn to the social and collaborative aspect of dance. As a painter, I spend a great deal of time alone and this energy of collaboration and socializing gives me a sense of connection to the universe and something larger than myself. Because the collective group energy is what draws me to this subject, I do not paint individual faces or details on the dancers. The abstract energy and combination of colors produce the emotional meaning of the work.