apr. 1, 2011 - apr. 30, 2011

Dalet Gallery presents this solo exhibit of Irena Kononva as a part of a project called CONTEMPLATIVE REALMS. These pictorial excavations intend to peel layers of superimposed earth histories as well as layers of our mind and soul. The geological layers of soil that are often depicted in the paintings correspond to multiple layers of paint. Fluid element is omnipresent, as it would be in aquatic primordial nature, but it also hints at the fluidity of our imagination and thinking process. The vast landscapes are void of figures although human presence is manifested by subtle signs. The paintings are filled with biomorphic shapes that blur the boundaries between organic flesh and crystalline mass, merging life with dead matter, making viewers guess if what is depicted is a mountain or an animal. It is fitting that sand - a product of long interaction between stones and water - is one of the physical components of these works. These paintings map out utopian lands, but more than anything else they are maps of our unconscious.