Ocean paintings

 

I got my art education in Russia. Among the basic tenets of our philosophy was the notion that a work of art should be intelligible without verbal explanation. I still ascribe to this point of view. I want to give my viewer the freedom to see what he wants to see.

 

Many of my past projects have involved complex textured surfaces, collages, and/or elaborate mixed media. This time, by contrast, I chose to be alone with oil paint and the smooth, translucent surface of Mylar. The subject is only the ocean (water); the shore is excluded, possibly gone altogether.

 

Looking at the ocean, you find it impossible to stop time and capture a still image. Everything is in motion: the sun, the clouds, the wind, the tide, and the waves, perpetually rolling, making noise and smelling of the sea. You examine a wave, trying to fix in your mind its reflection in the water before it or how it breaks into foam, but you always fail, and the next wave is different, with a new reflection. You have to accept that your subject is not only in motion, but perpetually changing its guise. This is what I want to depict.