California Ghosts is a series of paintings and drawings devoted to
the abandoned houses I observed while traveling in Southern
California, along Route 66 [show more]and elsewhere. Some of them are decrepit
farm buildings, others are sad witnesses of the housing crisis of
2008. Repossessed by banks and then intentionally made unlivable, they
stand amid the vast and dispassionate desert slowly returning to the
elements. Broken walls, torn wallpaper, a sofa thrown outdoors and
yielding to harsh sun and wind, a children's toy, a woman's shoe -- a
chilling, but eerily peaceful sight that caught my imagination.
A letter from Olga Sokolova, a journalist:
When I looked at the whole sequence of these new works, everything
came together in an integral chain of images, creating a feeling of
ghostliness. It's interesting how the figure resembles you, but is not
quite yourself -- as in #17 (Desert Ghosts), which can be read in
different ways: it could be a house where a guest has found herself, or it might not be a house at all, but a kind of reality shift, something happening to the guest, her own alternative reality... In short, the figure in the painting can be interpreted in various ways, and that's what draws the attention: perhaps it's one of the artist's avatars, or the artist herself. This creates a "reverse vision" effect: not only does the author observe the scene, but the scene also looks back at the author.
That's why the figure cannot stay neutral with respect to the author, because it's on a collision course with the unseen side of reality, and a feeling of undefinable danger hangs in the air. Perhaps that's what gets to you, that it's ultimately left undefined.
One thing is clear: the girl in red (#19) shouldn't enter the dead
house, because she will not remain herself, can't stay a mere
observer, and so in #20 (Dorothy) someone's silhouette is suddenly
revealed... But it has the outline of the same girl, and here an
invisible reality commandeers the space, as in the very beginning of a
nightmare, where you try not to believe in it, to hide behind something familiar and safe.
As the dream gains power over you, in #21 (Scena) there's no longer
anything familiar to hide behind. I would place #22 (Gas Station)
earlier, it seems closer to the beginning of the dream. On the other hand, as I said, the undefinable is scarier...
[show less]
California Ghosts is a series of paintings and drawings devoted to
the abandoned houses I observed while traveling in Southern
California, along Route 66 [show more]and elsewhere. Some of them are decrepit
farm buildings, others are sad witnesses of the housing crisis of
2008. Repossessed by banks and then intentionally made unlivable, they
stand amid the vast and dispassionate desert slowly returning to the
elements. Broken walls, torn wallpaper, a sofa thrown outdoors and
yielding to harsh sun and wind, a children's toy, a woman's shoe -- a
chilling, but eerily peaceful sight that caught my imagination.
A letter from Olga Sokolova, a journalist:
When I looked at the whole sequence of these new works, everything
came together in an integral chain of images, creating a feeling of
ghostliness. It's interesting how the figure resembles you, but is not
quite yourself -- as in #17 (Desert Ghosts), which can be read in
different ways: it could be a house where a guest has found herself, or it might not be a house at all, but a kind of reality shift, something happening to the guest, her own alternative reality... In short, the figure in the painting can be interpreted in various ways, and that's what draws the attention: perhaps it's one of the artist's avatars, or the artist herself. This creates a "reverse vision" effect: not only does the author observe the scene, but the scene also looks back at the author.
That's why the figure cannot stay neutral with respect to the author, because it's on a collision course with the unseen side of reality, and a feeling of undefinable danger hangs in the air. Perhaps that's what gets to you, that it's ultimately left undefined.
One thing is clear: the girl in red (#19) shouldn't enter the dead
house, because she will not remain herself, can't stay a mere
observer, and so in #20 (Dorothy) someone's silhouette is suddenly
revealed... But it has the outline of the same girl, and here an
invisible reality commandeers the space, as in the very beginning of a
nightmare, where you try not to believe in it, to hide behind something familiar and safe.
As the dream gains power over you, in #21 (Scena) there's no longer
anything familiar to hide behind. I would place #22 (Gas Station)
earlier, it seems closer to the beginning of the dream. On the other hand, as I said, the undefinable is scarier...
[show less]