Dakini
2017, video installation, objects
Art is one of the manifestations of mankind's reaction to reality and its coupled relation with ephemerality and spirituality. At the same time, art reveals the intricacies of human existence as a terrain of personas with egos, a critical step in broaching an understanding of the limits and characteristics of eras across time and cultures across space.
Nowadays, when parameters of the human world have expanded to the cosmic scale, a task of art is to document, absorb, and retool the individuality and origin of man and kin. Preservation of the spiritual microcosm of man has the potential to make possible a hyperrealistic, humanistic picture of the world. In so doing, this approach has the potential to encounter the priorities and challenges of our time.
The culturological approach in the study of the development of the inner world of man, his unique "I", is an organic component of understanding world-view doctrines throughout man's existence. In a general sense, the spiritual can be defined as a way to master reality — a quality of consciousness and activity of the individual that accumulates the ability of man to step beyond the necessary and extend the ideas of humanity on a higher plane.
In "DAKINI", ZINAIDA leverages the possibilities of time and space, navigating the emotional states of women and the transformations of the spiritual in art. Expedition materials that the author collected across five years in Western Ukraine are the basis of the project. In the words of the artist, "this is a special land, where spiritual culture has always been not only a part of mystical experiences, but a basis of existence."
The "DAKINI" project consists of two parts. The first part is an installation that combines the five elements: earth, fire, air, water and ether. The bearers of ancient traditions and rites revere them in daily life, but also use them as components during rituals. The fifth element — ether, is transcendent and has no form. In the installation, the artist brings each to the altar in closed, isolated spaces. A video, which addresses the transformation of a woman against the backdrop of mass change is the second part of the project. "Due to the ability to give life, the female energy is the basis of all things", explains the artist ZINAIDA.
The project has been presented in a solo exhibition within Kyiv Art Week festival at the Taras Shevchenko National Museum (Kyiv, Ukraine, 2017), also within project SURFACES FESTIVAL (Venice, Italy, 2018) and Personal Structures at the 58th Venice Biennale.
Nowadays, when parameters of the human world have expanded to the cosmic scale, a task of art is to document, absorb, and retool the individuality and origin of man and kin. Preservation of the spiritual microcosm of man has the potential to make possible a hyperrealistic, humanistic picture of the world. In so doing, this approach has the potential to encounter the priorities and challenges of our time.
The culturological approach in the study of the development of the inner world of man, his unique "I", is an organic component of understanding world-view doctrines throughout man's existence. In a general sense, the spiritual can be defined as a way to master reality — a quality of consciousness and activity of the individual that accumulates the ability of man to step beyond the necessary and extend the ideas of humanity on a higher plane.
In "DAKINI", ZINAIDA leverages the possibilities of time and space, navigating the emotional states of women and the transformations of the spiritual in art. Expedition materials that the author collected across five years in Western Ukraine are the basis of the project. In the words of the artist, "this is a special land, where spiritual culture has always been not only a part of mystical experiences, but a basis of existence."
The "DAKINI" project consists of two parts. The first part is an installation that combines the five elements: earth, fire, air, water and ether. The bearers of ancient traditions and rites revere them in daily life, but also use them as components during rituals. The fifth element — ether, is transcendent and has no form. In the installation, the artist brings each to the altar in closed, isolated spaces. A video, which addresses the transformation of a woman against the backdrop of mass change is the second part of the project. "Due to the ability to give life, the female energy is the basis of all things", explains the artist ZINAIDA.
The project has been presented in a solo exhibition within Kyiv Art Week festival at the Taras Shevchenko National Museum (Kyiv, Ukraine, 2017), also within project SURFACES FESTIVAL (Venice, Italy, 2018) and Personal Structures at the 58th Venice Biennale.