atelienormalno
It was such a bright day, and Zhenya came over to paint, hang out, and talk together in the studio. At that time, I was working on “Beremytskyi Horse at Night”—it was almost finished. At some point, I stepped out of the studio for a short break. When I came back, I saw Zhenya adding new elements to the painting with a black marker—other residents of our art residency, more animals, and the little houses where we lived. He was extending our story, telling it in greater detail.
At first, I felt indignant—how could he draw over my work, and with a marker on top of it? But after a few moments, I noticed that everything he had added was perfectly placed compositionally. And suddenly, the work was complete. It was a shock.
After that incident, we began experimenting—either creating works together from the start or “finishing after one another.” We worked like this for a year. During that time, I kept asking myself why I didn’t feel pain or regret when my work was seemingly being altered from above. At the same time, I felt a deep curiosity about the decisions the other author would make and what they would add. Zhenya’s boldness was striking.
This powerful experience led me to reflect: could someone else do the same—entrust their work to clarifying additions? To share it and become a co-author? And do you want to entrust every work in this way? Is there such possessiveness toward one’s own pieces—this is mine, I made it, don’t touch it? And can this method work successfully with everyone? Do you need to be aligned in character or sense of humor? Sometimes it happens naturally.
We tried the same approach with Ira. And indeed, her additions to the landscapes—we started with those—brought narrative into the works: who is going where, who is doing what. Figures and animals appeared, and with them, new meanings. It’s as if you release your work and encounter it again as something new.
These experiments brought real pleasure. Can it be called a method, a step, an approach? Or perhaps we simply manifest ourselves more fully together—more naturally.
