russian painter
Elena Yakubovich
watercolor, acrylic, graphic
Currently residing in Germany.
I appreciate the era of Art Nouveau in art and I love creating
artworks inspirited by this style, so, I impose it on artistic images
I am interested in. Here, three paintings of mine are presented as
an extract from two series I currently work on.
1.0 The origins of the women depicted in the form of birds can
be dated back to legends of many di fferent peoples. Likely,
the origins of this legends are common, but for me it bears a
meaning how each nation and culture adapted and reinterpreted
these motives and artistic images in their traditions and folklore.
Moreover, I am interested in how initially human qualities and
types were transformed into myths and fairy tales. As I grew up
in the Slavic culture, in this artwork I give an idea of figures and
characters of ancient Slavic bird women, who are reinterpreted
in Art Nouveau style the way I imagine them.
1.1 On the left side of the picture is the female bird Alconost,
who sings before the paradise comforting saints through her
smoothing sounds - according to ancient Slavonic beliefs. Her
singing is so beautiful that everyone who hears her voice forgets
everything and goes into a state of euphoria, and she even ceases to feel her existence through her own singing. In Slavic mythology
she represents - the bird of joy.
On the right side of the picture is the female bird Sirin, who sings as well,
but allegorizing and reflecting the aesthetics of mourning and teariness. In
Slavic mythology she is the bird of sorrow. Everyone who listens to her
singing is so steeped in bringing deepest sorrow to awareness that the death
wish gets perceived as his own desire.
1.2 The second pictures shows the bird Gamayun who was adapted in
the old Slavic mythology and transformed into the source of wisdom and
knowledge of the creation of the world and gods, conveying people this
message through her beautiful singing.
2.0 Another series of my artworks was inspired by Gustav Klimt and is
dedicated to female characters.
2.1 This acrylic painting work was inspired by Gustav Klimt, although he
never had such an artwork. Facets of female character types are composed
into a picture bringing together romanticism, seduction and lust. Own of the
motives was part of “Jurisprudence Final State”, an artwork not existing any
more. The painting was destroyed beyond repair and the castle they were
exhibited in was set in fire by the retreating SS forces in the final days of
the Second World War. An other one the “Beethoven Frieze” was part of the
Secession Building located in Vienna. The third character type is based on
the “Goldfish”.
I tried to convey the idea of female empathy and emotionality thought using
smooth colors and other details.