Ballet
Sylphs, always slipping away, enchanting spirits of air living in a magic forest. Perfect archetype of ballet itself. It’s impossible to paint a dance but a moment or a state can be translated to the canvas. Ballerinas, whose silhouettes developed on canvas like photo negatives, are they real? These paintings are open for interpretation. You can become a co-author by inventing your own libretto, read the messages addressed specially to you reappearing in the abstract background with every change of perspective or the angle of the light.
Ballerina #1. Oil, canvas. 88х118 cm.
Ballerina #2. Oil, canvas. 100х100 cm.
Ballerina #5. Oil, canvas. 88х69 cm.
Ballerina #3. Oil, canvas. 100х100 cm.
Ballerina #4. Oil, canvas. 110х100 cm.
Ballerina #8. Oil, canvas. 100х100 cm.
Ballerina #12. Oil, canvas. 100х100 cm.
Giselle. Oil, canvas. 60х100 cm.
Ballerina #10. Oil, canvas. 100х100 cm.
The artist Elena Begma invites real ballet dancers to her studio. This is why, despite the symbolic language of the paintings, each image possesses features of an individual.
Creation of each “ballerina” is a long process requiring patience and knowledge of the materials used by the painter. The desired texture is achieved by applying many layers of various paints, powder and special pastes with the final touch of silver paint. Once the background is finished, the detailed drawing of the figure begins.
The grey surface with metallic shimmer resembles a street wall fragment or a sheet of metal stenciled by the painter. In such a way, the artist transfers the street art technique to the easel painting.
Ballerina #16. Oil, canvas. 100х100 cm.
Ballerina #14. Oil, canvas. 75х115 cm.