Woman'n'Beads Print

That which, generally speaking, differentiates the indigenous Russian and Ukrainian art from the Western European art are the deeply rooted in the core of tradition of this area, elements of aesthetics of the East. For centuries, from the great Byzantine culture, through the adopted from there Christianity in the Eastern rite, as well as direct contact of ancient Russia and the Crimean Tatars and Asian invaders, wandered the taste for ornaments, elaborate ornamentation, decorative styling, compacting the forms in a certain kind of horror vacui and visual splendor of strong colors. Until now, it survived in the Ukrainian folk art and decorative arts. In its pure artistic forms it mostly disappeared - total globalization, the flow of information - including the visual ones, unified the modern world; also the language of visual arts. The so-called high art has become transnational: works created by contemporary artists in Europe, Asia, the Americas and even Africa, affect similar problems, and their creators use similar means of expression. Sometimes, however, the elements of local traditions, forms developed over centuries, meanings and symbols inseparably connected with a given culture, are becoming an appealing source of inspiration and references, as well as resource of artistic forms different from the universal ones. One of the artists who refer in their works to art rooted in the national tradition is also Kyiv artist, Natalia Pastuszenko. Her colorful, precisely drawn compositions pulsate with mantric rhythm of ornament. Their oriental charm is emphasized by flexible, softly meandering lines of the drawing and the richness of decorative, meticulously drawn and painted details. Flatly laid and framed with contour, small spots of colors, precisely matched evoke associations with splendor of Eastern mosaics. Skillfully contrasted colors are gaining in intensity, highlighted by black contours, form a complex structure of tissue composition. Emerging from it, more or less literal, representations of stylized human and animal characters refer the viewer to the literary, with a fairy-tale character, associations and interpretations. In a part of the works - in particular landscapes - she resigns from the drawing, building the mood with more painterly means of expression: the subtle transitions for color, a wide scale of saturation and the softness of the treatment of chiaroscuro relations. A completely different group of works is a drawing series Pictures for Milosz, inspired by the poetry of Czeslaw Milosz. It is the result of her fascination with Polish literature and culture. In black, ink, more painted than drawn, lines of the illustration one no longer sees the oriental styling, although its gentle softness is still present. Their content, the climate is inferred from a particular piece of prose or poetry of the writer and supplemented by own, intense emotions of the artist. Chamber works of Natalia Pastuszenko are also close to poetry: through the mood, visual subtlety, number of literary references. Its oriental character creates the additional value of plastic dialogue with the original native tradition, as well as proves the authenticity of an artistic creation, supported by imagination, sensitivity and talent. Stanisława Zacharko, BWA, Kielce

Print:Giclee on Canvas

Size:16 W x 16 H x 1.25 D in

Size with Frame:17.75 W x 17.75 H x 1.25 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.