HOW A MOTH BECOMES A TREE #4 (2021) Painting by Hannah Berestizhevsky
Not For Sale
Sold by Hannah Berestizhevsky
Sold by Hannah Berestizhevsky
This image is available for download with a licence
Sold by Hannah Berestizhevsky
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Original Artwork (One Of A Kind)
Painting,
Acrylic
on Wood
- Dimensions Height 51.2in, Width 8.7in
- Framing This artwork is not framed
- Categories Paintings under $5,000 Surrealism Tree
If we camouflage ourselves for a long period of time, consciously or subconsciously, there are harmful side-effects, some of which may be: an inconsistent personality that changes according to the ambient. The inability of being alone that leads to dependency on a surroundings. Not knowing who you are can lead to a feeling of great inner void and emptiness. My aim is to demonstrate that the metamorphosis of a camouflage can be done without hiding who we really are.
I keep coming back to the question of the Irish philosopher Jorge Barkly, that was one of the pioneers of the existencial approach of immaterialism, that state that things exist only when are discovered. His question was: “if a tree falls in the forest but nobody listens, did it make a sound?” I wasn’t there when the tree fell, but i have a feeling it wasn’t silent. Using the weight of the question I ask: "If I am dead inside, but no one notices, do I exist?"
I've recently been attracted to moths, the night butterflies, which are such fascinating creatures. The coloration and patterns of their upper wings are shaped by natural selection to match the patterns of the bark of the tree, on which the moths camouflage themselves. There are over 160,000 types of moths, and my current research focuses on a family of moths called the Saturniidae. The family contains over 2300 types of species and some of the largest moths in the world.
A unique characteristic of those moths are their eye-like shapes on its lower wings. When they feel a threat, they spread their upper wings, revealing the two large eyes. That action startles the predator, giving the moth precious seconds to escape and land on the bark of a tree to camouflage, taking advantage of the fact that the patterns on its wings matching the pattern of the tree bark. The moth creates the result of camouflage without having to change its own characteristics, nor the background, but it’s ability to obtain invisibility also due to movement and precise positioning on the tree bark.
Through nature, I try to understand the homo Sapiens in terms of social conditions and interaction. I try to penetrate conciseness and create thought provoking contemplation and emotional arousal. Seeing that all paintings are the result of a performance, My work is a performative painting. The process is an important part of the work and of the experience, both for me as an artist and for the viewer. The painting is no longer an object from the past, otherwise it’s living, and the end result contains movement and action in the rhythm of the flapping wings.
With this installation, I invite you to the forest of moths, it’s night time, there is a full moon, and the air is crisp. i hope to also give space to take a deep breath and fill your lungs with the air those trees provide. With every liftoff of a moth, is an opportunity to stretch the time, slow it down, and let it take your breath away during this life-changing moment of escaping. when something is gone, does it disappears? How does a moth turns into a tree? How does a tree becomes a forrest?
Related themes
My name is Hannah Berestizhevsky, also known as Mofuta. Mofuta emerged in 2009, during the final project of the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), which I completed that year in ILIS, Illinois Usa. Mofuta means Variety- it is a word in a language spoken in south africa - Sesotho. I’ve been attracted to visual expression and experiments since I can remember (not that memory should be trusted.) Started drawing murals at the age of 2 using mostly crayons on the white walls of the house, at the age of 5 experimented with watercolor and later on some photography. Took art classes in school as well as painted in artist’s studios and in 2018 I completed the master of arts (MFA) studies at the University of Barcelona, Spain. The studies focused on investigation and production of contemporary art.. or in other words.. understand and justify why I do what I do.
Currently located in Barcelona. Was born in 1988, Ukrain. In 1989 Immigrated to Israel. When I moved to Barcelona in 2016 I’ve opened my studio “MOFUTA studio gallery”. The space is multifunctional, while most of the time it serves as my studio, it has also metamorphosed into an exhibition space where 13 exhibitions were made. recently I've been giving art education and development class and workshops as well.
While in my work I employ a number of different mediums, My focus is on painting and performance. Considering the core of my artistic formation, painting is certainly the foundational medium for my creative process; it is for this reason that painting, with its theoretical and practical characteristics, has heavily influenced my use of other mediums and affected the approach to my creative process. Every painting is a result of a performance, an action done by the artists, however, its a performance that usually have no spectators, therefore it exists only as a the final result, a painting.
The production of art is always a process. It requires asking without necessarily seeking answers. Reaching questionable conclusions, trying to balance the logical and emotional by thinking feelings and feeling thoughts. Through the production of art, I aiming to penetrate the viewer’s subconscious, as well as mine, by creating a meditative state or sensation that provokes contemplation. some of my works wish to envelop the viewer's consciousness and invite the audience to delve into the work and ‘transcend’ both themselves and the work of art itself. Many of my works explore the human and nature as a source of inspiration. I aim to raise questions about the human condition and the unnecessary barriers between human beings and nature; or as they are called in the field of ‘eco-criticism – human and non-human living beings. In this way, I wish to state that mankind is ultimately driven by an animalistic and egocentric survival mechanism. In other words, it's a way to criticizes the human sphere through the animal one.
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Nationality:
ISRAEL
- Date of birth : 1988
- Artistic domains:
- Groups: Contemporary Israeli Artists
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