Between Layers — DINKA

From childhood, she had the sense that she was still trying to capture fleeting memories obliterated by the past. She was born in a country that has ceased to exist, unlike post-Soviet history, which has no defined boundary. That reality is recalled by an ephemeral record, photographs from her early years. Semi-transparent watercolors reflect the multi-layered nature of the artist’s experience.

Studying architecture was a time of development for her, which, however, superseded artistic creation. She returned to painting after the birth of her son and her decision to return from Moscow to Minsk. She then began working as a graphic designer and painting the local landscapes and blocks, ugly but beloved, raising existential questions about her own place in the world. She tried to see their uniqueness and beauty. Later, in Warsaw, they became a symbol of nostalgia for a bygone time and a certain stage of life. 

The experience of double migration was marked by an imbalance, even fear, embodied in the works. They are proof of the acceptance of this emotion and its cold, suffocating embrace. Literally annihilating it and shaking it off in her latest works, the artist measures herself against fear.

Her creative process is constantly changing and evolving. She is now finding her way and methods to express art clearly. The main emotions driving her art are deep nostalgia and melancholy, which have been with her throughout her life. These affects are also what most capture her attention and captivate her in art. Melancholy in the end, she says, is a sign of awareness, of feeling existence here and now. And creativity is ultimately like wistfulness; it speaks of something that is no longer there.

For DINKA, the act of creating is an act of grounding. When painting, she seeks to immortalize her surroundings, her loved ones, or ultimately herself. Her self-portraits emanate from a perception of her own person as the center from which further contexts diverge. Admittedly, she sometimes depicts allegorical subjects, and her works are filled with fanciful hybrid beings. What matters most is the ordinary and the real. The Mermaid with a block instead of a tail, or the Cynocephali are expressions of a sense of alienation in emigration, a metaphorical amputation and leaving behind part of one’s identity and gaining a new one instead. 

The most important thing here is the figure, the human being, but the figurative narratives are distorted and non-obvious. DINKA’s latest works reflect her current life transformation, the discovery of new connections between herself and her son, and close observation from a distance. The watercolor technique is one of the fast ones, as well as easy to make mistakes, which is a constant reminder that they are inherent in creative action. The artist allows herself not to be perfect. She disagrees with placing the concept above the person, and appreciates authenticity. 

Now DINKA uses canvas and textiles in her practice. She experiments with acrylic and oil, giving them a watered-down, watercolor-like consistency. She seeks answers to the question of whether certain things will be better expressed and told by another medium. The texture of canvas is quite different from paper, ambiguous. Similarly, watercolor, which ranks between painting and printmaking. The artist compares it to a puppet show, while painting to theater. Our brain knows that the show doesn’t really play out, that it’s not the real actors, but the paper. However, the emotions it triggers are real.

The current works, created at the Royal Collage of Arts in London, are created under the influence of deep transformation and distance from family. It is those closest to her, her son and husband, who are the main characters in the canvases. Separated from them, she looks at her son as if he were once herself, which intensifies the literal resemblance. She observes the transformations the young man undergoes and learns and experiences through him. The child is a source of artistic inspiration and experiencing everyday life in a new way, through a person close to her, but still a separate entity. Previously, she had herself documented through intimate watercolor self-portraits, a form of diary. Now she looks at her beloved from a distance. She looks for common connections. He looks into the future and the past at the same time. Through this she transforms herself and becomes someone new.