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| Left is beginning Marina Semyonova #2 progressing right |
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| On left changing front figure and rt adding color and other form |
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| Adding detail and close to finished on rt |
Marina Semyonova was a Bolshoi dancer who I discovered while perusing the obituaries in the New York Times. I find the obits introduce me to many interesting people I either knew little or nothing about during their life-time. Marina was 102 when she died in June 2010 and was a well-known figure in Russia, a country that cherishes their dancers. I grew up in the New York world of ballet. Many of my teachers at The School of American Ballet were Russian. I also studied with Andre Eglevsky on Long Island and was member of his company from ages 12-16. I left the ballet at 16 because my body could not take the rigors that a professional dancer has to endure. Throughout my work as an artist I have returned to the subject of dance many times. Quoting from my good friend; dancer, choreographer, and artist, Ib Andersen, "The dancer never leaves the dance". And so I find myself still very entranced with the art and movement of the ballet. I googled Marina and found some amazing old tapes of her dancing and teaching on U-Tube. I downloaded them all and began a series of three 50"x38" mixed-media drawings. When I started the Marina series, I was in a "media transition",
abandoning encaustic for acrylic grounds and mediums. I wanted to have more flexibility because my ideas were "flying" past what the properties of encaustic could handle. My intention was to have 3 figures on each drawing of Marina moving through various combinations. The old black and white tapes present her at various times in her life. She is seen as a young dancer moving with strength and bravado; but what moved me was her role as the older middle-aged teacher in her frumpy black dress and pumps demonstrating how to fine tune the role of the Black Swan to a young member of the company. Her expression and movements had so much passion, knowledge, and surety. I felt that little tingle I sense when I am totally intrigued and inspired. Using the digital files I had downloaded, I stop-gapped the video at various movements and worked from each pose to create a series of 9 figures on 3 drawings. Through the last 2 years I evolved my layering techniques with Absorbent Ground, Acrylic Ground for Pastels, pigment, spray paint, pastel, marker, and graphite. There was a long learning curve as I used these materials together for the first time; experimenting, pushing limits, and often making a mess. My decision to use strong color and pattern mimics the use of stage lighting and "other world" mood and atmosphere that enhances the magical world of dance to the audience. The Teacher #'s 1 and 3 are completed, but Teacher # 2 (shown above in progressive states) is in the delicate state of almost done. Each piece will be mounted on plexi-glass with a 2 inch boarder under glued with muted patterned material. Teacher #1 is mounted on the plexi and showing at "The New Mexico Showcase" at the 516 Gallery in Albuquerque, NM until April 28th. All the Marina work can be seen on my web site http://dianerolnick.com Thanks for stopping by the blog.
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