This series is dedicated to the crossroads of our future. Inspired by George Orwell’s book “1984” and recent events with COVID-19 I rethought the definition of our society and here’re my thoughts:
Right now we live in a time where we seem to be free and under the control of ‘Big Brother’ at the same time. Our next steps will dictate which future we get to live in. Future with freedom and truth or future where thoughtcrime is death?
Imagine that you are standing at the crossroad and in front of you are these two works. Each canvas represents a separate door into a different future. “Road 1.0.” (on the left) is about a free future with difference and creativity while “Road 2.0.” (on the right) takes you to the age of Big Brother and doublethink. Make a decision — pick your own road/future.
Quote Used: “Time when thought is free, men are different and truth exists”.
— George Orwell
Quote Used: “Age of Big Brother & doublethink where thoughtcrime is death”.
— George Orwell
Another canvas I finished in 2021 which is in Russian and says: “В поисках счастья — не потеряй себя”. The translation is “in the pursuit of happiness — don’t lose yourself”.
It’s a large format piece with lots of texture to it, imitating the surface of a street wall. This time I was experimenting with another metallic color — bronze. Love how warm and cozy it turned out, even with sharp characters and rough texture.
The composition itself is freestyle focused around the word “себя” in the middle of the work. I tried to make large bold letters look like the tongues of flame are about to touch and ‘eat’ a tiny word above them.
As I have always been told, the main rule of our life is to keep everything at balance. Based on this principle I’ve been trying to live my life and now created this new piece. To show it best I referenced back to the old legend told by Cherokee American Indian.
A legend about two wolves inside of us which keep fighting an infinite battle. A black wolf which represents our fears, anger, jealousy, and more negative emotions versus a white wolf which represents our positive emotions such as peace, love, courage. These wolves have the same strengths, that’s why the fight cannot end. It depends on which one you feed more, which emotions you try to experience more, that ‘wolf’ is going to shape you as a person.
Anyway this fight will always be inside each of us as there’s no light if there’s no darkness. Remember it and keep everything at balance.
/// LIGHT SIDE — “The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man, almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured”.
/// DARK SIDE — “Inside each of us, there’s a seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle to which one will win”.
This one is something different from my usual calligraphy works. Emotion is an abstract topic and to explore it I chose to focus on color & brushstrokes rather than
complicated compositions. There are 4 canvases. Each of them is about a different emotion and has only 2 colors — main and accent. Try to not view these as regular, type focused works but more of a feeling that they bring to you.
1 / 4
Red is always associated with anger, however I’m amazed by the energy of this color. That’s why I chose it to represent one of the most explosive feelings in my series — passion. The green accents add even more drive to the color combo.
The red writing says passion in Russian — СТРАСТЬ, while the side green writing says it in English — PASSION. I tried to make the composition dynamic and chaotic to represent the feeling better. Try to look at this canvas and think of your favorite thing to do, I hope it translates the same energy.
2 / 4
Blue is the coldest color there is. That’s why it was chosen to represent composure in my series. You should definitely feel coolness and control when you look at it. The striking yellow, used for accents, has this electrifying energy, similar to how you keep composure in stressed situations.
The blue writing is in English — COMPOSURE, while the side yellow writing is the same word in Russian — ХЛАДНОКРОВИЕ. I tried to make the composition straight and at the same time wavy to represent the power of ocean. It has this calmness but huge energy.
3 / 4
Abundance or in other words wealth is represented through green color in this piece. Green is a calming color which gives you the feeling of having and being just enough. Together with accent pink, these two create a bright but relaxing contrast.
The bold green writing says abundance in Russian — БЛАГОДАТЬ, while the side pink writing says it in English — ABUNDANCE. I know it’s hard to read, but as mentioned before, this series is focused on color and strokes more. That’s why the composition overlaps its characters and uses a great variety of green tints. To me, it looks like nature’s wealth.
4 / 4
Wisdom is associated with experience, maybe even elegance. That’s why the best color for such canvas is purple in my opinion. It translates this state the best through
its sophistication. The accent blue in this work doesn’t stand out that much as in previous 3 pieces, however it adds on to the purple letters.
The purple writing is in English — WISDOM, while the side blue writing is the same word in Russian — МУДРОСТЬ. The composition is sharp and you can see all the lines clearly. Similar to how most wise people have all their thoughts structured out. Maybe it’s just me though, who associates wisdom with discipline.