Laboratory of Naive Symbolism
Before developing my own visual language, I deliberately studied the working principles of individual naïve and self-taught artists. Rather than imitating their style, I treated each artist as a separate experiment — testing their ways of seeing, simplifying form, constructing ornament, and transforming everyday objects into symbols.
These paintings document that research process. They are records of observation, experimentation, and gradual discovery, showing how different artistic voices helped shape the foundations of my own practice. These experiments were never intended as finished works. They became stepping stones toward the visual language that eventually evolved into Naive Symbolism and the Emotional Cartography method.
Title: Dream Instead of Nature
Direction: Before the Worlds / Naive Vision
Medium: Soft pastel on cardboard
Dimensions: 29.7 × 42 cm | 11.7 × 16.5 in
Format: Vertical
Framing: Unframed
Year: 2025
About Artwork:
Inspired by Henri Rousseau’s belief that imagination can be more truthful than direct observation, this painting explores how an ordinary leaf can become an entirely new living being.
Instead of copying nature, I allowed the form to evolve through imagination, gradually transforming a botanical object into a symbolic creature. The experiment taught me that naïve art is not about simplifying reality—it is about giving imagination permission to replace it.
This was one of my earliest explorations into symbolic transformation, a principle that would later become central to my own artistic language.
Title: Apple
Direction: Before the Worlds / Naive Vision
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 45.7 × 35.6 × 3.5 cm | 18 × 14 × 1.4 in
Format: Vertical
Framing: Unframed
Year: 2025
About Artwork:
This painting investigates the visual philosophy of Séraphine Louis, whose work transforms the simplest forms into quiet spiritual symbols.
Beginning with the observation of a real apple, I gradually reduced its descriptive qualities until it became a symbolic presence surrounded by rhythmic ornament. The experiment revealed how repetition, colour, and decorative structure can shift attention from the object itself toward its emotional meaning.
It became an important lesson in discovering how symbolism can emerge through visual rhythm rather than narrative.
Title: Fruits
Direction: Before the Worlds / Naive Vision
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 45.7 × 35.6 × 3.5 cm | 18 × 14 × 1.4 in
Format: Vertical
Framing: Unframed
Year: 2025
About Artwork:
Created while studying Maria Prymachenko’s approach to symbolic transformation, this work explores how familiar objects can become part of an imaginative world.
Instead of depicting fruit as a traditional still life, I experimented with turning each element into an independent visual sign. Hearts, eyes, wings, and decorative rhythms gradually replaced realistic observation, allowing the composition to function as a symbolic ecosystem rather than a collection of objects.
The painting reflects my growing understanding that symbolism is created not only through individual forms, but through the relationships between them.
Title: Grapes
Direction: Before the Worlds / Naive Vision
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 45.7 × 35.6 × 3.5 cm | 18 × 14 × 1.4 in
Format: Vertical
Framing: Unframed
Year: 2025
About Artwork:
Inspired by Niko Pirosmani’s remarkable ability to reveal dignity and spirituality in ordinary life, this painting explores how simplicity itself can become symbolic.
Rather than pursuing technical complexity, I focused on restraint, clarity, and quiet presence. Through reducing unnecessary detail, the grapes gradually ceased to represent fruit alone and instead became a symbol of generosity, gratitude, and abundance.
This experiment strengthened my conviction that emotional meaning often emerges most clearly through simplicity.