Original artwork description:

In this work, the window becomes a metaphor for the boundary — a thin line that both separates and unites. It divides the inner and the outer, the real and the imagined, the conscious and the subconscious. On one side lies the quiet space of home, where we feel safe; on the other — the vast unknown that attracts and frightens at once.

The black-and-white palette removes the distraction of color, leaving only form, light, and shadow. It creates a space of suspended time — a reality caught between breath and silence. Monochrome allows the essence to emerge: the contrast of light breaking through darkness, and the stillness that exists between them.

The window is also a symbol of an inner state — the boundaries we build within ourselves. Often, they exist only in our minds, and it takes just a small gesture to open the frame and let the light in. This work speaks of that very moment of transition — when waiting becomes movement, and the unknown turns into a beginning.

This painting was exhibited at my solo show “On the Threshold” at the Taras Shevchenko Museum in Kyiv in 2025.

Materials used:

oil, acrylic

Tags:

#square #minimalism #quiet #meditate #bw #windows #sunflower #magritte #ukrainian artist #inner #surreallism #melancholia #monochomatic