WINDOW

WINDOW TO THE JUNGLE

The allure I feel toward butterflies has accompanied me since childhood. In the house of my grandma’s neighbor, there was a large picture of a metallic blue butterfly, and every time I came to visit, I would stare at it for hours. It bewitched me. As a kid, I loved wandering outdoors, in nature, where I felt most at home. I loved watching insects and butterflies in their natural habitat; I studied them, followed them and sometimes even brought them home.

In my adulthood, I began hiking in the jungles and rainforests around the world. I needed to know more about wildlife, animals, plants, insects, and nature’s immense beauty. As I traveled through these natural wonders, I felt like the child I was, who had disappeared into the thick vegetation in front of my parents’ house. Only when I allowed myself to get lost did I really feel at home.

When I returned from my travels, my mind continued processing the powerful experiences I had accumulated, attempting to distill them into an artwork that would (even slightly) convey what I had seen and sensed. That’s how the Window series was born – a series of 3D images that serve as a window to the forest.

The pieces consist of photos of tree trunks, where I placed butterflies, insects, moss and fungi, creating a feeling that is as realistic as possible for a fictional situation. For example, dozens of blue butterflies sitting comfortably on a tree trunk is not something one would see in reality, but it feels completely realistic and rational here. This is what the forest looks like through the eyes of a child – everything is possible and exaggerated.

My interior design background helped me interpret the experiences into visual elements and mold them into the space. I scattered the forest windows I created around the house, providing, in a sense, escape points that offer a feeling of wild, lucid air that is the closest to a natural rainforest.