riflessioni
“One” explores the interconnection and inseparability of people and the natural world.
In the past few centuries, human beings have drifted away from Nature and its life-sustaining systems. Humanity has battled to dominate and exploit Nature for its sole benefit, disregarding the fundamental, natural rights that belong to the rest of creation. Oblivious to our interdependence and oneness with the larger community of living species, we find ourselves restless and disconnected from Her life force, Her innate peace and tranquility.
Humanity’s flat black and white prototype contrasts with Nature’s colors, reliefs, and diversity of textures, creating tension and rending its tissues. The result is a fragmented landscape that mimics the fundamental ways in which human activities, such as deforestation, agriculture, industrial development, and extraction, have disrupted the Earth’s landscape. The realistic rendition of the human face further shows our need to define, outline, and analyze through solid, recognizable forms, revealing a simplistic and limited understanding of the world. Nature’s fabric penetrates and dissolves the rigid boundaries and predictable patterns of the human form. Her web of abstract complexity overlays and blends with the human face to further emphasize their oneness.
The series honors creation as a counterforce to destruction. The idea of Oneness constitutes a channel for elevating our consciousness. It opens our hearts to wonder and humility, becoming a portal to love and compassion for all of creation.
GIL BRUVEL on the “One” Series:
I have observed the progress of Nevena’s artwork over several years. The “One” series shows her developing mastery of a rich visual and aesthetic vocabulary, as well as greater depth. Her earlier pieces evoke a turbulent creative period marked by a restless search for self. Conflict, contradiction, passion, dedication, frustration, and bold choices show the personality of a true artist who is driven by wonder and dedicated to perfecting self-expression both as it relates to the subject matter and technique.
“One” is, in way, a culmination of that early, painful period in an artist’s journey of becoming. It simultaneously accentuates and unmasks the complexity of our human experience, revealing a mastery of color and composition. The intricate texture suggests the many layers of our personality; our experiences accumulate like strata and give depth to who we are. Through their cracks and voids lies our essence, as exemplified by the protruding human face. The earthy textured fragments symbolize the layers of our emotions, past memories, and the physical world which obscures our underlying consciousness. They are also a visual reminder of the natural world to which humans are intimately interconnected and that offers a window to further understand ourselves.