Nikita Andrejev
My work is built around the questions, “What is organic?” and “What is natural?” For some people, these two questions mean the same thing; however, for me, they lead toward two different directions within the “natural world.”
When I say “organic,” I instantly reflect back to the form — a language that ties down the puzzle of living organisms. A pattern, used by Mother Nature, which is hiding within the beasts and their environment (both living and non-living). If you take a couple of different elements from her — for example: tree bark, sea coral, stone, muscle, bone, and a fungi — at first sight, you might think these objects are very different from one another. And they are, to an extent… They have different material and form. However, at the same time, they are similar to each other (like the rectangle in the form of a building is similar to the rectangle in the form of a brick). They share the same pattern, which I would call a universal natural rhythm. This rhythm is some sort of combination of repetition, lines, angles, and regular irregularity. It’s very hard to describe this rhythm in words — that’s why I study it in a visual dimension. However, I do believe in, and see, this pattern, and I try to take it, observe it, learn from it, and distill it to its pure essence. To make a form that is as much of a tree, as a stone, as a bone, as an organ.
With the second question — “What is natural” — I focus more on the human mind. More precisely, what is in my mind. And through the prism of my own mind, I explore the human psyche — viewing it through the lens of instinct. I investigate feelings as core components, essential to the natural state of the human-animal being. These psychological elements allow me to compose my paintings into poems.
Through the use of my found organic forms, I create spiritual landscapes, which somehow reflect the world that we have come from, yet are connected to my psyche, observation, and reflection on this world.
