Birds in the Clouded Skies (2022) Painting by Alina Landers

The painting was created under the influence of deeply personal experiences of the immigration in the early twenties, as we can now call them.

In the beginning there was disruption of otherwise nicely planned and relaxed life by the pandemic. The sudden and sharp separation with the loved ones, who suddenly became unreachable, with no promise of improvement stands behind the yellowish color scheme, sharp border between the ground and the skies in the picture, and the choice of expressionism as a main stylistic solution.
In its absence of straight lines and flowing movement of the horizon, skies and ground, the painting shares similarities with Edgar Munk's approach to giving artistic shape to anxiety and deep affect. The following years of 2021 and 2022 only increased the sense of disruption in the familiar worldview and the war started by the Russian government almost shattered it into pieces, making the houses and the sense of security glitch and blur, and giving the black birds anthropomorphic figures, resembling humans more than avians.

In its motion the painting captures an ambiguous desire which can be seen depending on how we read the painting.

It speaks of willingness to break free into the skies from such cramped and tight surroundings if we read it from right to left. And of fatigue from the long march and urge to find a safe and cozy haven if we read it from left to right.

In its duality, the picture reveals goals for opposite aspirations and emphasizes the complexity of the achievements of both of them. The sky above the city is leaden gray, and the sunlight shines brightest away from it. The lightest and smoothest part of the hill is on its top, and to get there you have to climb an uneven, dark slope. "Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” as stated by Jack Canfield, is among the most important statements of this painting.

The painting is rich with symbols, and numerology and psychology of numbers plays no less important part behind its message.

There are 9 houses in the painting.
The number 9 is associated with kindness to all people without distinction, the ability to understand them and show mercy to those who need it. But it is also associated with a tendency to melodramaticism and extreme manifestations of emotionality, as well as with being a bit of a "don Quixote" at one's heart. In the sense that the old days are considered as a "paradise lost" and modernity is viewed as obviously worse.
The leftmost house is blurred, making them appear as 8 at first. The silhouette of its roof slope can be seen extending further to the left, taking the shape of a cloud. The number 8 stands for qualities such as perseverance, courage and excellent business sense. It marks the management of everything that happens in our world. There simply cannot be impossible tasks or insurmountable obstacles. It stands for reliability and impartiality, tough, but always honest actions. But at the same time, arrogance, and the habit of treating people, who are in a dependent position, scornfully. A frequent impression created by town inhabitants, and not always groundless.

There are five black birds in the painting. Black is the color of stress, ambiguity, renunciation, frightening uncertainty, and sometimes, grief.
Five is the figure of the "traveler". Restlessness and eternal dissatisfaction, energy that allows to painlessly endure any changes, including changes for the worst. Sureness that you will be able to "get out" of any situation. But at the same time, frivolity and irresponsibility, refusal to perform duties imposed by someone, unbalance, short temper and love of abundance, which is often shown by migratory birds and the people they symbolize.

In its essence the painting has been described as a true Israeli artwork, depicting the wishes and motivations of both essential parts of Israeli society: those who are yet to come to the Homeland, and those who seek to leave it.
Both the inhabitants of the small town on the right and the symbolic birds on the left look towards one another, but everyone sees what they respectively want: the bird sees the safety of the land, the town dweller sees the freedom of the open skies.
Those two pieces existing simultaneously remove all bias from the painting: the height, on which the birds and the houses exist, equalizes them and does not attempt to judge a single one.

Acceptance, adaptation and finding the inner peace in the turmoil that is our world now is the main message behind the painting, which, despite its external gloominess, asserts the triumph of life, faith in the bright future and following one's own path, no matter how hard it may sometimes be.

As an artist I want to support the people of Ukraine, and I want to send a part of the profits from the sale of this painting to refugee relief funds in order to contribute to improving the lives of people who have lost everything and became black birds in their own painting.

"Birds in the Clouded Skies"
acrylic on canvas
H 50 x W 70 x D 1,5
2022

Related themes

Birds In The SkyClouded SkyBaliIndonesiaLandscape