Oil on canvas · Cycles, light, memory
Alexander Ryashin
Artist · Ljubljana, Slovenia
“I was born in Siberia, in a place where the seasons don't blend into each other. Each one arrives all at once and takes over completely. Today I live and work in Ljubljana. The seasons here are gentler, but the rhythm is the same.”
My work keeps coming back to this rhythm. Seasons shows it in four canvases, each built around the same bright sun. Elements splits it into four panels. Dance of Life puts the whole cycle into one figure.
I paint from the centre outwards. The bright core goes down first, and the rest of the canvas is built around it in circular strokes of palette knife and oil. For me, painting is a way of paying attention.
Four canvases with the same sun at their centre. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter follow one year around a single source of light, and the warmth that stays the same through all of it.