Demolished dreams: Painting inspired by living in the Post-Soviet country

in #art7 years ago (edited)

noname.png

Hello again everyone. I am Maria, 19, and come from Georgia. By living in a Post-Soviet Country situated at the crossroad where Europe meets Asia, I have spent a large portion of my life in the arena of conflicting interests, corruption and changing mentalities. Georgia, which is in the active process of redefining itself and struggles with a disintegrated value system, is where I come from. Devastation and sheer emptiness is what being part of Soviet Union have brought to my country. Even though I was not born during this regime I experience the leftovers of Soviet past in my daily routine. I always had a passion for creating artworks but initially, NCN Art Department strongly supported my enthusiasm and my interest have increased as I have become more focused on a political dimension. I have spent a large portion of my life in the arena of conflicting interests, corruption, and changing mentalities, in this ongoing conflict of ideologies which contains an aspect of our lives at a certain stage, no matter what ethnicity we represent. In my A Level Art and Design Project, that I did last year, as a part of an installation that included five other paintings and a short projections, I tried to focus on the concept of demolished dreams, that people try to pursue even in the face of oppression. During the first years of living abroad the taste of alternative culture and the opportunities have reinforced my passion for utilizing art as a vehicle towards making a difference.

“you can’t just say that the system is flawed; you have to work through the system and show it in all of its detail; that’s the only way you can ultimately make a critique.” These very words by Ai Weiwei were an initial stimulus for my investigation.

As an upcoming artist, I stand by my belief that you have to use your own experience to tell a story. As with my homeland Georgia it is impossible to distinguish art and politics. I believe that it is through my art that my advocacy for my rights and the protests against contemporary actions will persist, as the art always wins, anything can happen to me or to anyone but art will stay.

Unfortunately, for this painting, all the progress pictures are lost, as I didn't import them to my computer and now can't see to find them anywhere, but did find the pictures of my process and experimentation on my portrait that I drew initial inspiration from. I do have progress pictures for all the other paintings and also a lot to say about political art and artists that inspire me in this genre as well, so if you'd be interested in any of this, please let me know in the comments, as I'm new here and don't know what the general interests are on Steemit.

image (2) copy.jpeg

20354119_10210112529865880_451217216_o.jpg

This is the picture I started working with, as I wanted an image of devastated girl and didn't really have luxury of caucasian models in the UK posing for me so i just took some selfies in an art studio and started experimenting in 5 minutes. That's where i learned, that if you don't have initial inspiration, can always take photos of things or yourself and start experimenting around the pictures.

20348003_10210112529825879_507403316_o.jpg

These are just parts of my sketchbook:

20353821_10210112531745927_2096344372_o.jpg
20354044_10210112531665925_1114775263_o.jpg

image (4) copy.jpeg

This is the final work, hope you enjoyed it! Please leave all the feedback and questions in the comments !

Maria.

Sort:  

this piece is absolutely gorgeous!

That really means a lot ! Thank you so much !!

Its really amazing Maria, best regards from Bolivia.

Thank you so much !! Appreciate this

Incredible work, @atbaseline! Totally following you now! So much raw emotion and talent in this piece! Can't wait to see more. I can tell you worked hard on it. Check out one of my paintings here: https://steemit.com/painting/@stanhopeofficial/03-the-discovery-original-painting

Amazing art Maria, keep it up with the fantastic work!

Thank you so much !!

I think your work has great emotional depth, and shows a confident, studied hand. Very impressive!

That means a lot !! Thank you so much

This is the best post I have seen today. You're truly a great talent and I'm craving for more. Please also share some details about the techniques you're using. I would love to read about that. xx

Wow !! That means a lot !!! I will mention the techniques in the next works that i post ! Thank you so much for your comment xx

It is very nice!Especially color is good.ありがとう!

Thanks a lot ❤️❤️❤️

Stunning - Living in political turmoil can cause extreme stress I find. :( But at least it is good fuel for creative fire. Resteeming.

Congratulations @artbaseline! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

Award for the number of upvotes received

Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here

If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

By upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!

That's impressive! Love your work!

Thanks a lot !

Congratulations @artbaseline!
Your post was mentioned in the hit parade in the following categories:

  • Upvotes - Ranked 2 with 174 upvotes
  • Pending payout - Ranked 5 with $ 149,52

Thanks for sharing your story and work! Feeling the emotion from the painting you shared. Keep it up!

OMG this is AMAZIIIIINNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maria i wish you can send me a original sketch of yours . I would publisize it also cherish it you are an amazing woman and a true atrist talented like talent can be.... BRAVO upvote,vote follow@fauxfinish as i do for you miss thang, peace

This great! love your page

I always love to read about the artist and why they make their art. It helps the viewer step in the artist mind and their experiences. When I first saw the top picture I could already tell there was something deep and painful about the subject. But you truly gave it life when you express your emotions, experience, and history about the paintings. I hope that you will have an opportunity to display your work in a gallery or local cafe .