's of fine arts degree in 1992. Besides pursuing her lifelong passion for art, Alexandra has been working on public policy issues facing Eastern Europe during the transition from planned economy. She holds a master's degree in economics and public policy from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and has worked on several economic policy assistance programs in Ukraine. This experience has strengthened her conviction that art, which provides inspiration for reclaiming the dignity of the human spirit, is as essential as good economic advice.
Morphology is the study of structure and form. As an artist, I am fascinated with the evolution, transformation, and transmutation of forms, shapes, and structures and with the inherent logic that guides their changes. The biomorphic forms in my current work have evolved out of symbolic figures that used to be an obvious presence in my canvases. The current shapes are less clearly human, but they are more universal. They ask the viewer to notice the affinity and inter-relatedness of all forms and shapes to each other and to realize that the figures are not distinct and distant from what is around them, but that they are part and parcel of their surrounding environment. The biggest challenge in today's fast-paced world is to recognize that everything is related to us and becomes a part of us by affecting our bodies, fascinating our minds, and, most importantly, entering our souls.
The transformation and evolution of the imagery in my artwork is an unpredictable process that usually takes me by surprise. Deep transformations often happen without us even being aware of the new directions into which we are being drawn. These changes are most likely to happen when we are successful in letting go of the need to succeed and to dominate the process, when we relinquish the effort to control, and when we surrender to the force of life itself. Most of the time, the process of transformation is not fully complete, and it is while caught in this transitional or in-between state of being that we can feel the depth of our transformation the most. It is in passing through these states of incomplete-ness that our deepest insights emerge, allowing us to see aspects of all elements of creation within us: of humans and plants, of earth and animals, of that which is man-made, and of that which exists without our conscious involvement. The evolving enigmatic shapes of my current paintings are about acknowledging this living, breathing amalgamation within us, about connecting with everything around us and thus feeling fully alive and fully awakened to the possibilities and immense power of our transformative imagination.
Two primal forces are pervasive in all facets of human existence. One is a nagging sense of anxiety which pushes us to avoid all possible and imaginary dangers, and the other is a desire for authenticity of experience which calls us to seek out the new, the unknown, and the possibly dangerous. For me art often serves as a bridge for reconciling these two opposing needs.
Many of my most recent paintings have two clearly visible layers. The field of the canvas is often covered with rich textures and spontaneous marks, while the surface layer presents outlines of symbolic figures reminiscent of Byzantine icons superimposed and integrated with the textures underneath. The spontaneous drips and textures are a way for me to spill out my anxieties onto the surface of the canvas and to let go of them at the same time. The figures and the lines of the top layer are an attempt to find order and meaning in this inextricable world that is filled with emotions, and is beyond reason. The resulting entangled web of lines and interconnections evokes the frustrations of searching for deeply authentic experiences amidst the constant worries and preoccupations of daily life. There is a clearly palpable tension between these two layers, but it is just this tension that gives the paintings their spark and their soul.
Which one of the two layers is more authentic and directly from the heart and which one is about arbitrary rigidities driven by anxiety? I am not able to separate the two, and leaving out either one of them in my life or in my art is not viable. The only path towards integration, creativity, and authenticity is through embracing what we fear, thereby accepting the positive role of anxiety in our lives. True art reconciles and integrates in a constantly evolving balance the contradictions between chaos and order, intuition and reason, anxiety and authenticity.
I have long suspected that there is something magic about art. In our rational world, which holds anything magic highly suspect, such a conclusion can be difficult to accept. As I have devoted more and more of my time and effort to making art, these doubts have been gradually dispelled.
For me, painting is a process of reconciling the inherent conflict between the rational mentality of our world and the visionary logic of the dreamworld. The figures in my paintings find themselves in a magic space created by flowing currents and energy waves. These paintings are about reconnecting, encountering a sense of wholeness, and entering into a space where anything and everything is possible, where time and distance do not exist. While in this space one looks inward within one's self, yet also outward into the surrounding environment, and ultimately recognizes that all is one and interconnected.
True art cannot avoid being about this magic space in-between, because it is the spirit of love, care, and intention that, infused into dabs of paint, becomes art. Art makes the energy of the spirit visible, thus creating the potential for transforming both the art maker and the viewer.
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