The art segment of the Winter Scene of the Bar Chronicle was closed by the fourth solo exhibition of Jelena Vušurović, an academic artist from Cetinje. Under the title "Flame", Vušurović presented her works created in the last six months in different techniques, which, according to art critics, are a variety of expressions materialized on canvas with oil and acrylic pigments, as well as combined techniques.
In the catalog of the exhibition, art historian and art critic Anastazija Miranović wrote that the symbolic name of the cycle refers to "the inner flame, the flame of the soul, whose focal point smolders and flares up depending on the stimuli, and they are various", and that Jelena's inner strength is symbolized by the representation of a bull that se, "ready for battle, in full strength and dominance", unobtrusively emerges from the colored compositional chords.
In contrast to the previous figuration - with the central motif of a bull, which is still present in various forms on certain canvases - in this cycle, Vušurović openly turned to abstract creativity. In an interview with "Vijesti", the artist notes that the leitmotif persists even now.
"It started with the figuration of a bull. Everything else you see in abstract paintings is a fragment of it. I want to present the inner struggle and breath of that bull, that is, us, who are the impetus, what we cannot show or say. In my paintings, you can see that inner struggle and that inner strength," says Vušurović, a member of the ULUCG. The interviewee of "Vijesti" completed basic studies in graphics at the Cetinje Academy in the class of prof. Vesne Bošković, and then specialist studies in the direction of painting in the class of prof. Branislav Sekulić. Now she is in Banja Luka for her master's studies in the class of prof. Dr. Jelena Rubil. Her palette is characterized by strong, raw colors, which, she points out, she has been faithful to since entering the world of painting
"Somewhere at the Academy, I received a correction from a professor that this rawness in art was disturbing. However, I want to dwell a bit on that rawness, because that strength that the pure color gives overlaps the azure that I give below, it actually carries a message. We are not nuanced, we humans are individuals in our own right, so each of my paintings, such as the name of the exhibition 'Flame', carries a flash and all those strong feelings that we are afraid to express. Every color speaks", adds Vušurović.
In that coloristic speech, red is the "loudest" color on her canvases.
“I love her, she is my trademark. I'm trying to show through red not the struggle, not the pain, but the inner passion of man," Vušurović points out. To the remark of "Vijesta" that some of her works, combined techniques, in this cycle are almost reliefs, she replies that it is "part of the next research".
"Outside of artistic expression, I like to fit the material. The gauze, cotton wool and string that are somewhere in my pictures are already some personal experience, like a struggle through life - let's grab onto something, and that is the string in my pictures. That (relief) growth... You know how - we use gauze and cotton wool when we are most injured, when something hurts. I want to cover that material with strength and cheerful colors - nothing hurts us, let's move forward".
The works from the cycle "Flame" were created at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year. Commenting on the thematic continuity, Vušurović says that every time a new picture starts, "that's when a new research begins." He draws inspiration from his daily work in the studio: he points out that first he is a parent with two children and many obligations, but the morning ritual is the same - when he gets up, he goes to the studio first, "whether it's raining or snowing".
"I close myself in my own world, close my eyes and thoughts come flooding in - everything that happened to me during the day or in the past life. What I feel then, that's what I paint", says the "Vijesti" interlocutor. Commenting on the transition from a graphic artist - originally a draftsman - to an abstract painter, and the question of whether there is a drawing in the setting of what she is doing now, she states that each of the new works "comes out by itself".
"However, who follows my work, and how they see the enormous closeness between graphics and painting. What would my professors Branislav Sekulić and Marija Kapisoda say, it's incredible that a graphic artist who draws, draws and deals with what we did in the studio for three years suddenly becomes a painter in the full sense. I am grateful for that proofreading, I fulfilled some of my goals, but that work goes somehow with experience and age. There is always a connection between what I learned there and what I am doing now, you can see it in the drawing. I hope that at the next exhibition I will present myself with just that, there will be a link between graphics and drawings", concluded the painter from Cetinje.
Master's thesis - sculpture
In her previous work, Vušurović has already tried herself in different techniques and media, and she continues her research in her master's studies.
"In Banja Luka, I now have a challenge - a sculpture in space and an object of modern art performance. With a five-meter canvas, I will make a sculpture on the canvas in the middle of the square in Banja Luka, and that will be a part of the defense of my master's thesis," said Vušurović.
The bull is a symbol of unadulterated strength
"Moving in a wide range of executive manners, from figuration to abstraction, installations and combined techniques, Jelena Vušurović chooses and determines the medium, form and way of expression depending on what she wants to communicate. In certain cultures, the bull is equivalent to a deity, a sacred animal, but, of course, everywhere and always it represented a symbol of unadulterated strength. Jelena's bull is in an offensive stance, ready at any moment for a fight, a confrontation, with a red handkerchief over its head. In fact, the artist waits for challenges in an attitude of readiness, as the inevitable fate of the world and life", it is written in the catalog of Vušurović's exhibition, which is on display at the Castle in Bar this spring.
Bonus video:
