Original artwork description:

This painting captures a poignant moment of observation, where the viewer is caught between the visible and the unknown. The open window, framed by flowing curtains, acts as a threshold between interiority and the vast world outside. The seamless transition from the interior space to the unknown beyond hints at a deeper conversation about the nature of perception and understanding.

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

This "inner landscape" also evokes the temporary shelters where many Ukrainians now spend their days — often mere corridors or basements they have endeavored to make habitable. In this space, a lamp may appear as a moon, providing quiet illumination amid uncertainty, while the red glow behind a door suggests either the hope of a coming dawn or the ominous presence of fire or explosion.

Drawing from Magritte's exploration of the window frame as a symbolic structure, this piece questions the boundaries of what we see and how we interpret the world around us. The curtains, gracefully billowing in the wind, represent the elusive nature of reality, ever-shifting and impossible to fully grasp.

This work delves into the fluid relationship between vision and knowledge — words fail to fully articulate the world we are part of. As we look through the window, we are reminded that seeing is not merely observation, but an acknowledgment of our place within a larger, unspoken narrative. Like Magritte's The Key to Dreams, the painting plays on the tension between the seen and the unseen, the explained and the felt, urging the viewer to reflect on the space between perception and understanding.

Materials used:

watercolor

Tags:

#reality #contemporary #nostalgic #green #grass #conceptual #handmade paper #wind #mediterranean #windows #discover #magritte #curtains #metaphorical #metamodernism