Vasyl Dmytryk. Flame

Exploring the metaphysics of nature, the artist began an experimental cycle that he continues to work on to this day. In his series Elements, Vasyl Dmytryk embraces the aesthetics of video games or even animation to undermine the classical notions from the field of natural philosophy. These ideas receive not just an embodiment but also a prominent psychological dimension: their goal is to elicit wonder, to entertain and to release emotional tension. With critical thinking and objectification as his favourite tricks, the artist creates organic images of outdated or recycled substances and fabrics. This “elemental pop-art” becomes a call for change in mass culture and embraces the optics that played an important role in all the main modern art movements (surrealism, with its ready-mades, is just one example).

The artist’s demand that all objects be kept in their original environment is the main condition for exhibiting The Elements. All four sculptures have to fully permeate the public space and reorganize it. The sculpture Fire had already been exhibited in public spaces in Odesa and in Kyiv: at the Second Nature show in the Green Theatre and at the Abramovych Sculpture Park.

Vasyl treasures the materials that come with a history, endowed with experience, endurance and a mystery of their own: his earlier oeuvre consists of just such elements. According to the artist, new objects are created irrationally, almost mystically, and the artist’s studio in an industrial area, at one of the abandoned spaces of the Odesa Ship Repair Yard, contributes to that. It’s a quiet and desolate spot ruled by the elements rather than people. Much like the artist’s oeuvre, it is a site of a veritable battle between massive industrial buildings and the alluring richness of seaside greenery. Natural lighting and the sea soundscape also contribute to his exploration and mastery of the elements. The entire area around the studio looks like a fairytale. Mysterious shapes in the clouds and wave crests inspired the artist to introduce new characters into his series, namely, air and water. The first sculpture in the series, Fire, is especially meaningful for the author since it is linked to memories that are “warm” in every meaning of the word. It deals not just with heartfelt hopes but also with a fire in his studio that keeps Vasyl warm during his workdays in winter. The artist sees the fire as a cleansing element, a benevolent spirit that creates light and heat, much like in many world mythologies. The image is highly active, and the author’s goal has been to demonstrate the static process of burning as something unique and unpredictable.

Vasyl is currently developing his fantasies about Air and Earth, trying to grasp the new features of the surrounding space not just with his eyes. Land masses have a material shape, whereas creating the image of the atmosphere is a tantalizing challenge for the author’s imagination. He is like a lighthouse watcher on a secluded island guiding his viewers into the labyrinth of the collective subconscious.

Viktoria Kulikova