The dark dog days at winter’s end have never felt more full of life. I observed the landscape around Xenia teeming with life: oak, beeches, great bounty of berries: blackthorn, crab apples, dog rose, and great diversity of birds they attracted, local wintering ones, chubby pheasants, wood pigeons, red kites and the migrants from north and east: redwing thrushes, brumbling finches and brant geese…
For a site-specific representation, with the branches from the oldest oak tree, berries, leaves from the grounds, and flour dough I built a bird-shaped maquette for my painting reference. Using bread as a making material was something I wanted to come back to since we last made these ritual bird-buns with the East London and Ukrainian communities as part of a socially engaged project commissioned by UCL last winter. The lark-shaped bird buns are made at this time of the year as a fun way to shake off the winter dread. In response to Xenia’s local diversity of resident species my bun-maquette took on more pheasant and kite-like shape, and acquired holm oak and ivy leaf “leaf feather” armour. I am infinitely grateful for this time refuge to Bianca and the whole Xenia team and for the precious artistic space, time and focus to create.
#xeniacreativeretreat #artistrrsidency #olhapryymak #artisticprocess #emerginartist #hampshire #artistsatwork #contemporarypainting
Studio life and the barking deer
2nd week @xeniacreativeretreat
“Dog days - or heathen days - in the ancient agricultural imagination of all Europe, this time of the year was the most dangerous when the membrane between this world, and the next is that it’s thin and everything held its breath to see if the sun would repair from its prison” - Jacob Mikanowski
#xeniacreativeretreat #artistresidency #painting #ukrainianartist #contemporarypainting #attistsatwork #olhapryymak
I am planning to go offline for a few weeks for the rest of the harvest season to focus on gathering seeds for next year.
These are the last bits of painting in the studio that got the least love from me somehow. Airing it out here for a bit to get fresh perspective.
#harvest #contemporarypainting #tenderlooking #olhapryymak
In Ukrainian word for July is Липень translating into “the one full of linden”. For this July sprite I picked the linden blossoms from a tree by the entrance to Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge when I tried to catch Magda and Lubaina’s show there.
#deeplooking #perishableart #wedonttalktogodsanymore
Here is a snippet of a larger painting wip and some other things I was looking at:
Human-plant hybrid sculpture 2 c AD
#wishdoll #naturespirit #m
sculpture by #osmandinc
#colorblue in oil painting
#forestspirit
More eggs in the studio and on my camera roll, the pysanky season ia not over until Green Holidays.
#писанки #eggsinart #salvadordali #ritualobject #natureinart #contemporaryart #ancestralpractice
Here is the work that was recently included in the group show ‘Shall Leave No Trace’ @royalcollegeofart . Scroll for more images of the process I decided to share since this is quite a fun part of the making.
#femalepainter #SlavicAnew #SlavicArt #magicrealism #paintingprocess #ukrainianartist #worldbuilding
