I was born in the former Soviet Union. My father, a historian, was responsible for the restoration of a museum of archeology and history in Ukrainian town.
The museum was our second home. This half-ruined enchanted place with Greek amphoras and medieval armor at hand still inspires many of my paintings.
It also resulted in my interest and love of medieval art which led to attempts to find my own ways of achieving the same expressiveness, clarity of colors and lines and surrealistic imagery medieval art possesses but in contemporary way.
My other goal for some years now have been to work with only two or three colors and their variations in a painting in order to achieve the full sound of these colors. For example, the painting Triptych in Red and Blue.
This is a relatively new task for me, it’s captivating to work on it.
About the Chess Drawings
Consisting of pen, ink and black tea drawings on paper, this collection is a result of my fascination with the game of chess and its history.
It is also a result of my love of history and literature, and resentment to war. The game of chess is ancient and possesses philosophical, poetic and theatrical qualities.
A chess board resembles a stage where chess pieces are symbolic of medieval royal courts and armies. Moves follow the rules.
Each of my drawings relates to a certain chess rule. Browsing through the literature about the game, one notices that the rules of the game sound like philosophical wisdoms.
Chess is more than a game.