After I tried the woodcutting and engraving during part 1 I wanted to develop it further.
It can be said, that wood is in general, refers to my culture. This material is natural, a bit primitive and easy to work with.
Inspired by one of the Russian artist Nestor Engelke who is working with an axe, and the last exercises of the course - alternative tools for mark-making I changed the woodcut tools to the saw.
Sawing on the wood was a lot of work. My whole body was involved. It was energetic and severe.
The straight, intense lines were penetrating into the wood, were breaking a fine surface. They were as if these marks wanted to say something. Like it was so important to express something essential.
The first try on a small board was rather grasped and too easy. You can see it on the marks left from the xilogravura knives. On the next piece, I worked more with a saw. So the idea was again to try golden paint and reflection. The viewer would see himself in the reflection. “Wunder” is a Miracle in German.
In the end, the surface of the wood was not so reflective as it was with the metal. This colour together with wood at the end refers to Russian culture. But I used the German word, which is actually not quite feet to this material as it is rather metal. If instead the word it would be something recognisable – landscape or a portrait, or if it would be an abstract composition – how would it change?
Later I made one more try with the same idea. I was reworking one of the old paintings. This time I used the Russian word for eternity. This art piece didn’t work at all. The surface was overloaded with marks, and the writing was also tight and boring. Just wasted the time! And the funniest thing that even before starting this experiment, I had the feeling that it will not work! The question is should I listen to my inner voice better before?!
In parallel, I continue to explore the metal medium. I let it go this time… I checked some videos on YouTube about the gravure and methods of work. Find them boring and conventional, so I took my drill machine and applied it to the metal. I changed the attachments for different screws. A rhythmic, dynamic, bold line appeared.
C'est la vie (French - It's life), 2021, steel, spray colours, engraving, 78.5 x 82.5 x 0.3 cm.
I love the possibility of interaction with the work like I would be inside of it. The overall reaction to this mark-making process is a wish to leave the trace. Speak through the material.
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