Olena Kayinska

There is a river inside of me. It has always been there. Its waters are silent, ancient, thoughtful. Its waves go slowly, they whisper to one another, tenderly cover each other. The silent river carries an enormous mass of water. Countless masses of water, which silently move in space and time and c...

There is a river inside of me. It has always been there. Its waters are silent, ancient, thoughtful. Its waves go slowly, they whisper to one another, tenderly cover each other. The silent river carries an enormous mass of water. Countless masses of water, which silently move in space and time and calmly flows where it needs to be.

The river of tranquility. The river of inner peace. How does it feel to be you? How does it feel to live in this body and think in the way how you think from the very beginning of your existence? Stand still and observe the beingness from birth to death. Stand and watch, how the river waters flow, how the clouds are crossing the sky, how the leaves are falling from trees, how people come and go. Laugh and cry. Take joy and sorrow. And howl with pain sometimes. Be yourself.

One day I’ll take a boat, get it in the water, and follow this big calm inner river. Follow this river to where its calm waters flow. I’ll sit in the boat facing the direction of movement. I’ll observe the horizon. I’ll silently follow the stream.

But not today. Today I’m here.

Our world is changing. More and more people start noticing the time goes faster, the wishes come true, and the thoughts materialize. Fortunate turns of events and non-coincidence meetings started to happen more often. The world began hearing us. The world began answering to every our thought, either full of joy or sadness. Our feelings became subtle, fragile and resonant as if made from thin glass.

Space began vibrating. We stand at the crossroads – to live as we used to and feel how the present-day world puts obstacles before us, or summon up the courage to look inside of our hearts and hit the trail towards what’s inside without looking back. Set off on the journey for our inner light.

To live, a person must be exceptionally cautious and well-armed. She needs to promptly fight off the attacks, run fast to get on time, and struggle desperately, to take over a piece of land under the sun. There is no place for self-pity and weakness – one should be strong enough to survive.

The other side of a person is being carefully camouflaged and hidden in the everyday battle. This side has remained from deep childhood, but it didn’t turn into a rudiment. This side has come deeper, into another dimension, into the space of unconscious, behind the line.

You can see it, breathe it, but very carefully, not to frighten it away. It can be perceived beyond reality. It’s undoubtedly beautiful. It’s vulnerability.

Vulnerability begins where there is no need to fight. To uncover your inner vulnerability, you should have a possibility to do this. You should not be afraid to do it. You need to be sure nobody would assault you at this moment.

To love and demonstrate tenderness, you should unveil your vulnerability. If you want the other person to reveal you their vulnerability, you should touch them carefully and gently.

Vulnerability is revealed when we sleep. We are vulnerable and natural when we sleep. When we sleep, we unconsciously caress and hug each other.

I speak with my world in the language of colors and forms, and the feeling of the paint and brush is my pleasant addiction. The patience I require for the long hours of repetitive actions transforms into the intense energy and the joy of discovery of what I’ve created. When I start painting, I go as if with my eyes closed and find out what’s the story about only after I put the finishing touches. Storylines of the artworks come to me on their own, often inspired by books. Milorad Pavić, Gabriel García Márquez, Alessandro Baricco, Bruno Schulz filled that inner well, where the images of the future paintings come from. Self-taught as I am, I never dreamt that my passion and admiration for painting would turn into my way of life, would give meaning to my life.

My paintings-dreams take the observers inside, to the subconscious, to the core. Trying to find the inner self, the observer wanders through the imaginary world, fantastic forests, filled with symbolic images and archetypical symbols, inhabited with mysterious creatures, each of which provides a guide to the final destination – our heart. My aim is to make people happier.

My paintings show the endlessness of obvious and unobvious relationships in this world with the help of mysterious storylines with the metaphysical sense. Being the guide between the worlds, I mix reality and magic in a genuine meditative form of my witchcraft. Direct ascetism of the flat surfaces, completeness, and persuasiveness of the compositions, seamless statics, graphical coding of the deep sense into the schematic images, order, and rhythm of the painting focus the observer’s attention on what is underneath.

I want to return the observers to the pure, sincere and spontaneous experience of the outer world, which we all had in our childhood. Children observe the world as it is, directly, without thinking. My paintings are childishly simple and straightforward. They help recall the child’s state of trust and safety, the state of interest in the world around, the state of fabulousness and love. As if you are being held in hands and told a fairy tale. When we manage to recall this fundamental state and restore the feeling of trust and pureness, the world starts showing us its magnanimous side. My paintings are portals of returning to the pure child’s state of mind and to the joy of being.