Blue, 2021
In the diptych BLUE and RED, from the series Familiar in Unknown, I look into the question of how one adjusts to living in a new country and what role religion plays in this adjustment. All one’s knowledge and previous experience cannot prepare an emigrant for challenges of the new life. And sometimes the only thing that helps is finding some familiarity in the unknown. I took the picture of the St May’s Church in London and made it unidentifiable. The idea behind it being that it could be found in any country and that to many people a religious institution could be that Familiar in Unknown that brings some stability in a new environment. As for why Blue and Red? In early Christian art Blue was a symbol of Heavenly Grace and Red - of Holy Spirit.
Red, 2021
In the diptych BLUE and RED, from the series Familiar in Unknown, I look into the question of how one adjusts to living in a new country and what role religion plays in this adjustment. All one’s knowledge and previous experience cannot prepare an emigrant for challenges of the new life. And sometimes the only thing that helps is finding some familiarity in the unknown. I took the picture of the St May’s Church in London and made it unidentifiable. The idea behind it being that it could be found in any country and that to many people a religious institution could be that Familiar in Unknown that brings some stability in a new environment. As for why Blue and Red? In early Christian art Blue was a symbol of Heavenly Grace and Red - of Holy Spirit.
Red with shadows, 2022
This work is from the series Familiar in Unknown, where I look into the question of how one adjusts to living in a new country and what role religion plays in this adjustment. All one’s knowledge and previous experience cannot prepare an emigrant for challenges of the new life. And sometimes the only thing that helps is finding some familiarity in the unknown. I took the picture of the St May’s Church in London and made it unidentifiable. The idea behind it being that it could be found in any country and that to many people a religious institution could be that Familiar in Unknown that brings some stability in a new environment. As for why predominantly red colour? In early Christian art Red symbolised Holy Spirit.
New World, 2021
This work was created during COVID pandemic and endless lockdowns, when the palpable hunger for life manifested itself in the colours representing healing, hope and stability. And at the same time we were remembering our life before pandemic and wondering it our life will ever be the same. I took the photo of Oculus by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava in New York City before COVID, when it was built as part of the Ground Zero revival. Photography with the process of pushing the button generates an image that right after the moment of being taken becomes ‘has been.’ It represents the past. The painting to be merged with it digitally later was created during the third lockdown in London. Oil painting being tangible and at the same time being a durational process created new reality and thus symbolised the present. So the title has a double meaning, photo taken in the States known as the New World and pandemic creating a new reality, a New World.
Chance, 2021
Dreams, 2021
Life Interrupted series is dedicated to the casualties of war. The outfit and the shoes that were never put on are associated with the celebration that never took place. For millions of people everyday day life as they knew it has been interrupted by a war. This could happen anywhere. Intense Red associated with blood.
This work was created with the goal of empowering young women. A business phone call taking place in the car driven by a chauffer has been mostly associated with a man. It is time to associate it with a woman. I first created a digital photo collage of pictures I took in New York City: a disappearing silhouette of a man symbolising diminishing power of men, and a profile of a young professional women on the phone on the foreground.
This is the first work from the Life Interrupted series dedicated to the war. The outfit and the shoes that were never put on are associated with the celebration that never took place. For millions of people everyday day life as they knew it has been interrupted by a war. This could happen anywhere. Now it is happening in Ukraine. I convey this through intense blue and yellow which are the colours of the Ukrainian Flag.
Worship Place, 2021
Dancing Colours, 2021
This work was created on one hand as a response to the excitement of my encounter with the wilderness of Adirondack Mountains in the US, and on the other hand as a reminder that we might loose the beauty of our Nature. For me, the central point is choice; just as I have chosen to use digital output, not tangible oil paint in my final work, we face a choice on whether to conserve or exploit Nature.
Swirls, 2021
Imagine you have arrived into a big city that you have never visited before. But you are not a tourist. You are here to live. You step outside, the swirls of the street’s energy pick you up and whisk you….somewhere. You are disoriented, you don’t know where you are going or where you will end up during your experience of discovery. The ambiguity and the unknown worries…yet excites you. This is what I wanted to explore in this work. The choice of red was to express excitement and danger of the unknown.
Socialist Brutalist was inspired by the visit to the Barbican Center, an example of Brutalist architecture. While doing my research on Brutalist architecture I came across a photograph by Belgian photographer Geert Goiris of an image from my native country. It was the picture of the Ministry of Highway Construction in Tbilisi, Georgia, built in 1975, with which I was very familiar without knowing that it was an example of Brutalist architecture. I associated Brutalist with the Brutality of the Soviet regime, and I tried to create a piece that communicated it. I took a picture of Goiris’s photograph and then made a painting with visible brushstrokes in predominantly red and blue palette. Red associated with blood as a result of brutality of the Soviet regime. Blue, not just because the building was located on the river embankment, but mainly because I wanted to add water as a symbol of a new reborn Georgia.
Rubik’s Cube or Life as We Don’t Know It, 2021
All one’s knowledge and previous experience could not prepare you for the life in a new country. You feet like a small child trying to figure things out every time you start anew. Your life becomes a Rubik’s Cube that you have to solve.
Beauty of Chaos, 2022
This work is from the series Familiar in the Unknown, where I look into the question of how one adjusts to living in a new country and what role a religion institution plays in this adjustment. All one’s knowledge and previous experience cannot prepare an emigrant for challenges of the new life. And sometimes the only thing that helps is finding some familiarity in the unknown. I took the picture of the St Pancras Church in London and made it unidentifiable. To many people a religious institution could be that Familiar in Unknown that brings some stability in a new environment. The idea behind it being that it could be found in any country. This particular Church could be in Greece for example. Not surprising since the architects William Inwood and his son Henry William Inwood were inspired by two Greek monuments - the Erechtheum and the Tower of the Winds - from the Acropolis in Athens.
Guggenheim, 2021
Untitled, 2022
This work was inspired by the visit to David Gareji, the rock-cut 6th century still functioning monastery with preserved unique frescos that are considered masterpiece of Georgian Medieval Art.
Writers Guild - Then, Restaurant - Now, 2021
This work started with the photo of the stairs taken by me in the iconic Writer’s Union building in Tbilisi, designed by the German architect Karl Zaar in 1903-1905. Now it hosts a restaurant.