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Save the date! Here’s the news: on the 13th of November everyone’s is invited to the private view of Exhibit Here 2019, Art Maze Exhibition. Scroll down for more info on the poster 😜 But before you jump straight to it, maybe it’s worth noting what I’m willing to share with you at this arty maze.

The main theme of my three paintings selected for the exhibition – “Spring Awakening”, “Yesterday’s News: In Memoriam of the Grumpy Cat” and “A Boy in Pink Shoes” – is mental resilience. And it might get mental sometimes, indeed! When I was in Bali having the time of my life, my sister checked herself in at the hospital. Emotional breakdown of a single mother. A month later my cousin was found in a morgue. My most beloved grandma passed away in July. Then I didn’t get the job offer which I wanted more than anything else. I don’t think it’s even worth talking about ruined illusions which seem so insignificant against death. I took it all in with a cool head (on the conscious level 🤯) and carried on.

Is that resilience or is that fierce insensitivity? I don’t know… I started to learn to let go and carry on very early in my life. So did my sister. In spite of the loses, she marched through life like soldier, always standing up, ignoring the pain. But how far can one go without allowing oneself to stop and just be for a moment? In such situations I imagine a resistance band which slams us back to the wall as soon as we run out of our strength to pull it forward. There’s only so much tension we can bear and it’s a matter of time, when life will demand to fix what we ignore in the haste.

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So, right back to the wall. On the day my sister left work with the aim to stop and pull herself together, she was presented with a bouquet of yellow sun-like tulips. The image of her vernal selfie in the lift struck a contrast with her inner condition. But then it occurred to me that her inner condition was actually a firm hope for revival. Such a joyful moment! Spring started to awaken in the city and in her head, too.

When I’ve recently asked her, how she’d describe this year, I received the following answer: “It’s a year of selection – I think I’ve mostly selected everything and everyone. Clean thoughts, friends, I realised what my priorities are. What I should throw out of my head, how I could improve and grow. One has to learn how to make the right choices in life.”

The artwork as well as my sister’s story is a blossoming reminder that in spite of icy-cold endings one can always, as long as she breathes, almost inevitably begin again. And thus, those cold and gloomy winters shouldn’t be looked at as a perpetual condition of being. Yellow tulips are depicted as a symbol of optimistic thoughts, positive mind and in this painting they lead to the impression of one’s personal revival which is key to the theme of this artwork.

The other two artworks tell stories of themselves, but you can learn about them in November when I see you at the Art Maze. 😜 If you’re in for some wandering in the dark but mesmerising labyrinth of art, RSVP for the private view by dropping an email to info@exhibithere.com

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Don’t get frightened, you’ll find the way out! 😁 🙌🏽

“Spring Awakening” (2019)

Detail of “Spring Awakening” (2019)