Ekatherina Savtchenko (USA/Germany)
Born in St. Petersburg Russia.
Study of fine art, painting, sculpture, photography and video in the Academy of Fine Art in St. Petersburg and Kunstakademie Dusseldorf (Germany)
Master student of Prof. A.R. Penck
Based in New York and Dusseldorf (Germany)
Solo exhibitions (selection)
- “Unity”, United Nations Building, New York (USA)
- ”Unity” State Russian Museum, St.Petersburg (Russia)
- “Power of Love” Margo gallery, New York (USA)
- “Tree of Life” MORA Museum, Jersey City (USA)
- “India: Sensuality and spirituality”, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (India)
- “Happy New World” Gallery Pingvin, Oslo (Norway)
- “Unity” State exhibition hall A3, Moscow (Russia)
- “Unity” Museum Viehmarktthermen, Trier (Germany)
- “Unity: identity”, Contemporary Art Museum B.S.1, Beijing (China)
- “Unity”, Artforum E&Y GAP 15, Duesseldorf (Germany)
- “Passport with Reng Rong and Huang Yan in Imperial City Art Museum, Beijing (China)
- “Unity: divine geometry” Niavaran Museum, Tehran (Iran)
- “Unity” Museum PAN, Kunstforum Niederhein (Germany)
- “Unity”, State Museum of Montenegro (Serbia- Montenegro)
- “Fire”, Museum of Contemporary Art Washington D.C. (USA)
Group exhibition (selection)
- Russian Year in Italy- Cultural exchange, Pallazo Forma, Naples and Villa Pagana, Rome (Italy)
- Art Stage Fair (Singapore)
- National Art Center, Tokio (Japan)
- Municipal Museum, Kyoto (Japan)
- Museum Gustavo Maetzu, Navarra (Spain)
- Carrousel du Louvre, Paris (France)
- Art New York Fair and Art Hamptons (USA)
- Klasse Penck Kunsthalle Dusseldorf (Germany)
Artist Statement of Ekatherina Savtchenko
UNITY
I see unity everywhere. Everything is interconnected in an invisible net, a single structure inaccessible to the human mind. Unity express itself, for me, in the symmetry of the microworld; in the geometry of the macro-cosmos, the community of elements of the matter of the universe and the similar processes of the development of society and civilisations; in parallels between the mythologies and religions of the world; in love between a man and a woman. The idea of unity can liberate mankind from fear, insecurity and aggression and, with combined effords, it can take us onto a new stage of development.
Encountering the Unknown
Creation
When I am painting, I feel like a godhead creating a new world. The paints, diluted in water, take on a life of their own. They merge to form rivers and seas, grow roots and branches, they pulsate through my veins, electrify my nerves and dissolve into the dust of bursting stars.
Everywhere I can see the initially designed cogs, the fractal repeating itself in endless variations creating Universe after Universe. For me abstraction in nature is not amorphous, not formless. These are just fragments extracted from their figurative context. The problem is just one of perspective, the angle of perception. At a certain distance any abstract composition turn into a concrete form. I am interested in the energy binding matter into a particular form.
What principle determines its distribution: is it quantity or quality or yet something else? Is matter a property of energy? What are variety and individuality necessary for?
Time determines the how long a certain form will preserve its own individuality.
Energy
E = mc² is the famous formula of Einstein. It describes energy as a property of matter and vice versa. Intranuclear particles appear out of nowhere and disappear again, dissolving in the energy flow. If we introduce the tenth dimension in a purely mathematical way, all the four forces known to us - electromagnetism, gravitation, strong and weak radiation - will reveal themselves as a single force that can be described by one formula. This means there exists just one structure in the Universe that seem to be well, organic. It may be an enormous cosmic body and we exist as a part of the tiniest cells of a gigantic organism.
We produce the substances or hormones necessary for this organism.
We exchange information for the individual and general well-being.
We feel the need to experience being part of a whole.
We feel the need to love one another.
We feel the need to be one.
Human being
The human being lives in a three-dimensional space. His abilities to perceive whole reality are quite limited. He considers himself the „King of Nature “, forgetting that the atoms - protons, electrons and neutrons - he consists of have existed since the very start of the universal evolution and will exist until it collapses. Iron, for example, a necessary element of the human organism, evolved in the process of the supernova explosion. The human race consists of cosmic dust embodied in this form for just mere instant. Nuclear particles materialize and dematerialize billions and billions of times but it does not prevent any human being from experiencing his own individuality. The sense of love, the need to go beyond one’s own boundaries and merge into one whole is in our genes. In the process of love the female energy and the male energy come together. Like electromagnetism, electric current starts flowing and a new potential evolves, the potential develops into a new bundle of matter, the birth of a new Universe.
Myths
Man has always been interested in the cause and purpose of his creation. To explain his origin he has been creating myths, both religious and scientific. Each theory is effective at a certain stage of his evolution but they are all based on the archetypal concepts of the Universe embedded in our subconsciousness. Thus, for example, Einstein’s formula E = mc² - energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared- has much in common with the idea of the Trinity in Christianity. Energy is God the Father, matter is God the Son, velocity is the Holy Spirit. In Hinduism energy is the prime God, Brahma, matter is his materialization, Vishnu, and velocity is the god of destruction and dynamic changes, Shiva. In all religious and scientific myths there are five schemes of the world creation
Everything appeared from nothing
Everything appeared from something
Everything appeared from chaos
The Universe is eternal
The Universe is rhythmic. I can bring all these concepts together in the following way:
The world is eternal and recreates itself anew.
The world is built from Chaos according to a certain plan.
Each time it is created from an organism that will be destroyed.
This organism will always stay unclear to us and signifies the great nothing.
Trying to explain the world, art is devoid of sense, in the same way as philosophy, religion and science. But this very need has been programmed into us and art helps us to see the usual as something amazing. It enables us to go beyond our boundaries and for one single instant feel the energy of the Universe.
Encountering the unknown 95% of space matter is dark matter, impenetrable for our understanding and our observation.
Reality as we know it is the result of our biological, physiological nature as well as our educational, cultural nurture. We are scared of an enormous unknown world and try to hold on to a tiny piece of illusion called objective reality. Every second we face intuitive impulses in our soul, that frighten us. We try to suppress our fears with the help of rules of behavior, traffic, communication. I am interested in diffusing reality´s boundaries, in crossing the STOP line of our consciousness. I am ready to encounter the unknown.
