TY - GEN T1 - [2.2] Awakening AU - Revenkov, Diana AB - I have always been interested in creating art to capture moments that otherwise slip away. When I was young, the drastic change in environment and culture following my family’s move to the United States from Chernivtsi, Ukraine shaped me as an artist. This monumental experience compelled me to focus on work that reveals an individual’s story and highlights their relationship to their environment. The body of work “Experience of Being” does just that, - it explores my personal perspective on a world we all share. The works in this show communicate importance and indifference, simplicity and complexity, discovery and loss, accomplishment and shortcoming. All of these emotions and experiences are unique to each individual, yet they are known and understood by us all. One of the photographs, for example, explores the theme of loss, picturing a pair of mismatched, empty chairs that leave a trace of their owners’ former friendship behind. Another image portrays a lush, overgrown, and trackless path whose untamed branches are swaying in and out of focus; it combines the idea of growth and uncertainty, which often go hand in hand. My goal was to express abstract ideas in visual form. I photographed in a way that would place the viewer within the scene, as if it were they who are looking back at their crinkled linen bed sheets or admiring the stillness of a backyard landscape. The painting in this body of work captures a simple moment: sunlight beaming through the blinds and transforming the bathroom sink into a mesmerizing abstraction. Using a compilation of photographs, paintings, and sketches, I shared my perception of daily reality. I arranged my artwork in a didactic manner, meaning the layout, scale, and presentation of the pieces are intentionally articulated to emphasize the meaning of the work as a whole. This style of installation expresses the flowing nature of time and thought, and the reoccurring color of green communicates life, growth, and balance. “Experience of Being” reveals my perception of existence in order to create connections with the audience and highlight the fact that we are all united through our shared experience of life. I want to bring the viewer into a heightened sense of awareness of the sensations of living and cause them to ponder about how that awareness, or lack thereof, affects their relationships with people around them. I believe that if we truly tried to understand one another, we would be a lot better to each other. My hope is that looking through these works the viewer will find moments they relate to, maybe even lived through themselves, as well as moments that seem foreign or unclear. Maybe they will learn from one thing yet dismiss another, - but through this communication there will be connection. KW - existance KW - life KW - photography KW - connections KW - conceptual ideas DA - 2020-4-1 PY - 2024 ER -