Irena Machitski - A new name in Contemporary Russian Art
The Cloud of Unknowing and The Music of the Spheres

The personality of the artist plays a more and more active role in the human community as any artistic nature is the first to feel anything new, forthcoming, meaningful and influential. Artistic creative personalities are to be taught to become artists - painters, musicians, sculptors, architects, etc. Thus the question arises - how to teach? Any teaching and tutoring means looking backwards to what has been already done - to teach on the examples and artefacts. Learning is imitation. No surprise that many of those who belong to and form new generations of artists become followers, adapters, advocates of already existing trends of all kinds of art.

At the same time some artists appear whose freedom of self-expression breaks all the rules and stereotypes, follows no trends, creating a piece of art with the only purpose - to reveal in colour some inner power, intuitively caught at the moment of creation. That’s as if the artist (he/she), in a creative exaltation forgets the rules of composition, colour combination, space, line and form for the sake of ‘free fall’, boldly creating his/her own artistic language, which might be as clumsy as Alice’s ‘curiouser and curiouser’ but catches not only the eye but the heart as well.

One of such an artists is Irena Machitski, a member of the International Artist’s Foundation, whose two grand solo-exhibitions - The Cloud of Unknowing and The Music of the Spheres - were recently shown in Moscow Central House of Artists.

Irena Machitski’s paintings are a vivid demonstration of the synesthetic nature of some artistic personalities. Machitski is really able to bring together music and colour, non-figurativeness and light, unconsciousness and freedom of the artistic self-expression, intuition and improvisation, realising a unique phenomenon of human unconsciousness being subconsciously visualized.

Machitski’s creativity is multicultural, based on her personal life experience gained in the UK, Russia, and elsewhere. Colour is the leading and most meaningful element in Machitski’s art. It prevails and dominates the artist’s creative thinking. There are no special light effects in her painting, rather the colours seem to be transparent and illuminated from within, producing the effect of colour glass. Irena Machitski’s pictures are painted in truly bold colours, with light that comes as if from the inside. The thin silver graphic lines and geometrical figures - the triangles - resemble the musical instrument of the same name. And silver-clear sounds seem to be created by the delicate touch of the brush.

The prominent Russian painter Vladimir Weisberg defined three main types of colour perception: short (or momentary), prolonged and permanent. He spoke of the so-called ‘unseen painting’ by which he understood contemplation and harmony: the most attractive element in visual art is that element which we cannot see, but unconsciously feel. Something mysterious, for which no logical or common sense explanation exists. Irena Machitski’s paintings are meant for at least such a ‘prolonged’ perception. Who will dare to speak about something ‘permanent’?!

Machitski is an artist greatly influenced by music or even - in some cases - directly inspired by it. The triptych The Cloud of Unknowing was inspired by the Fifth Symphony of Shostakovich and some works exhibited at The Music of the Spheres were created while listening to Stravinsky’s The Fire-Bird.

Machitski’s poly- or multi-layer paintings are matrixes, or, if we paraphrase today’s popular Web terminology - hypertext-paintings, each part of which either singly or as a whole is meant (if not for a ‘permanent’) at least for a ‘prolonged’ analytic contemplation. Such are her Refuge, The Breath of Rhythms, The Field of Mars, Epidemic of Hatred, Unexpected Meeting. Her abstractions are not abstractions at all: the more attention the viewer gives her pictures, the more ‘figures’ appear to emerge. Looking into the canvases, here or there a face or figure, a flower or a shadowy silhouette of a night city seem to appear… And here we can formulate a rather paradoxical idea: there are as many variants of a certain painting as there are viewers who saw it.

Machitski’s series of round non-figurative paintings draw our attention to the fact that an abstract or non-figurative round piece of art is multi-meaningful and potentially ‘mobile’ even in a static position. Seen together, they can be ‘heard’ as a melody resonating in the heart of the artist - a melody composed by painting-notes…The colour inspired and enforced by artistic talent might cause emotions as strong as those of sound. Irena Machitski paints the music of colour spheres - lyrical and joyful; sublime and earthbound; intimate and overcoming gravity, taking the viewer to the Cosmic spheres.

Natella Voiskounski
The ASTI Gallery, Moscow, Russia

www.imachitski-art.com or www.imachitski-art.ru

Natella Voiskounsky

Irena Machitski paints “The Music of the Spheres”

“The Music of the Spheres” … To give such a title to an exhibition of a “silent” kind of visual art should be really meaningful, and no less bold for the contemporary artist or viewer alike. It corresponds to Pythagoras’s “the Music of the Spheres”. The ancient Greek philosopher meant that all things in Nature are harmoniously made, and that different sounds must harmonize.

Irena Machitski’s pictures are painted in truly bold colors, with light that comes as if from the inside. The thin silver graphic lines and geometrical figures - the triangles - resemble the musical instrument of the same name. And silver-clear sounds seem to be created by the delicate touch of the brush. Let those whose eyes are open to perception of art hear the Music of the Spheres resonating from her canvases.

Irena Machitski’s paintings are a vivid demonstration of the synesthetic nature of some artistic personalities. Machitski is really able to bring together music and color, non-figurativeness and light, unconsciousness and freedom of the artistic self-expression, intuition and improvisation.

The series “The Music of the Spheres” might be perceived as something absolutely new in Machitski’s creative activity, so different is it from “The Cloud of Unknowing” (her previous exhibition). Yet her “Spirits” exhibited at the 2001 show were and are those grains of sand (the title of one of her canvases is “The Spirit of the Earth and the Spirit of the Sands”) which form today’s crystals - such canvases as “Prayer”, “Anthrax”, “Forgive us our trespasses”… The abstract landscapes created by the artist’s fantasy are painted at once and are built on harmonious interactions of color. This cycle was continued by Machitski’s canvas “The Orb of Cognition” (the alternative title - “The Tunnel of Reality”).

“There’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st
But in his motion like angel sings
Still guiring to the young-eyed cherubims”
Shakespeare, “Merchant of Venice”, V,1.

The English polysemantic word “orb” hits the idea, intuitively realized by the artist, and purposely used by the playwright. Because “orb” means sphere, as well as a ball, a star or a planet, an eye or a disk. The attentive and interested viewer can really distinguish all these above mentioned objects, and meanings, in her paintings. It should be noted that both the titles of the painting given by the artist reflect at least a double-variant perception of the work. Masses of color as masses of energy flood from the canvas, and the viewer’s eye is caught by the motion depicted in the painting - either reaching for the orb of cognition, or drawn by the stormy movement into the tunnel. Here there is some relevance also to Plato, who said that first God created a Man in the form of a sphere, incorporating two bodies and two sexes.

Color is the leading and most meaningful element in Machitski’s artistic activity. It prevails and dominates the artist’s creative thinking. There are no special light effects in her painting, rather the colors seem to be transparent and illuminated from the inside, producing the effect of color glass.

The prominent Russian painter Vladimir Weisberg defined very keenly the three main types of color perception: short (or momentary), prolonged and permanent. He spoke of the so-called “unseen painting” by which he understood contemplation and harmony: the most attractive element in visual art is that element which we cannot see, but unconsciously feel. Something mysterious, for which no logical or common sense explanation exists. Irena Machitski’s paintings are meant for at least such as “prolonged” perception. Who will dare to speak about something “permanent”?!

And here we reach, or at least come closer to, an understanding of Machitski’s creativity. She is undoubtedly an artist whose creative activity is greatly influenced by music, or even - in some cases - directly inspired and encouraged by it. The triptych “The Cloud of Unknowing” was inspired by the Fifth Symphony of Shostakovich and some works exhibited at “The Music of the Spheres” were created while listening to Stravinsky’s “The Fire-Bird”.

Though usually the artist does not live in a verbal context, some are very particular about the titles they give to their works. Machitski belongs to this minority. But the titles given to her works are not the key to a door behind which a viewer might find some direct answer to cognition of the artistic ideas. Her titles are a hint only, stimulating the viewer’s fantasy.

Machitski’s poly- or multi-layer paintings are matrixes, or, if we paraphrase today’s popular Web terminology - hypertext-paintings, each part of which either singly or as a whole is meant (if not for a “permanent”) at least for a “prolonged” analytic contemplation. Such are her “Refuge”, “The Breath of Rhythms”, “The Field of Mars”, “Epidemic of Hatred”, “Unexpected Meeting”. Her abstractions are not abstractions at all: the more attention the viewer gives her pictures, the more “figures” appear to emerge. Looking into the canvases, here or there a face or figure, a flower or a shadowy silhouette of a night city seem to appear…

Machitski’s series of round (?=92cm) non-figurative paintings provoke the idea that such a form - that of the ring - was chosen by the artist to draw attention to the fact that an abstract or non-figurative round piece of art is multi-meaningful and might have no top or bottom, left or right. Thus they are “mobile” even in a static position.

The series of such round paintings numbers a dozen, suggesting a circle of the zodiac. Twelve months, twelve life-stories colored and composed in accordance to certain uncertain associations and allusions of the painter. The series starts with the canvas “Inspired Hearts”, followed by “Mirages”, “The Flight of Thought”, “The First Kiss”, “The Pearl of Love”, “Fire-Mist”, “The Shadow of Doubt”, “The Call”, “Unity of the Hearts”, “Gravity”, “Mystery”. Taken as a whole, they can be “heard” by a creative viewer as a melody resonating in the heart of the artist - a melody composed by painting-notes…

What kind of music does Machitski paint, then? Once a poet said that there was no point in explaining music with words, otherwise music would prefer words to sound… But perhaps, if there are painter-composers then - to follow the paradoxical idea - music needs no sounds! The color inspired and enforced by artistic talent might cause emotions as strong as those of sound.
Irena Machitski paints the "Music of Color" - lyrical and joyful; sublime and earthbound; intimate and overcoming gravity; taking the viewer to the Cosmic spheres.

To paraphrase Plato, for Irena Machitski, “Painting is the highest form of music”.