The idea of the "Wings" project is to tell by means of painting about the places where I visited while boarding the plane at the Sikorsky airport. These are Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, Israel, Cyprus, Lithuania and, of course, Ukraine. (There are others in the idea, the same Germany and Georgia, but physically they have not yet been written).
The idea was born exactly before the start of quarantine and work on the canvases continues to this day.
The core: in paired, equal-sized canvases, appeal to each country. In one picture from a pair, depict a certain area, specific for a given state, and on the other - my impressions of what is the essence of this country. Put back to back realism and subjective abstraction.
Such a project is being implemented in the history of art for the first time.
The selection of landscapes required me to revise, at times, thousands of photographs.
The search for an image “on the inner screen” that will convey to the viewer the essence of the centuries-old history, cultural and religious peculiarities of the state made me be honest and attentive in order to focus on the main thing, bypassing superficial effects.
Some tasks were solved easily, literally alla prima, some canvases (meter and a half) I rewrote in the root three or four times. Each country has its own well-established principles of painting - I tried to observe this accent as well.
One of the paintings - "Miravet-on-Ebro" - won 1st place in the British competition, the other - "Ukrainian Field" - the second.
It is symbolic that for the first time these canvases will be shown at the Sikorsky airport, in the museum of which my grandfather's plane is located.