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June 8, 2007
Whimsical wonderland
Line drawings and color paintings mesh well.
BAILA LAZARUS
It's hard to imagine two more opposite fine art styles could hang
side by side and complement each other so well. But the work of
Irena Shklover and Akiko Michael do just that in Creative Interpretation,
at the Sydney and Gertrude Zack Gallery this month and next.
Shklover's work is that of the colorist – acrylic on canvas.
Michael works in black ink on paper. Shklover covers the whole canvas
with color and form; Michael throws a few wispy brush strokes onto
the page, without even completing the figure. Shklover's faces are
full of expression and detail; Michael's subjects are faceless outlines.
These are the more obvious, visual cues. But delve deeper and you
can see several characteristics that the two art forms share. Both
artists stimulate the imagination. Shklover creates scenes that
are surreal, without being disturbing; full of flights of fancy,
causing the viewer to wonder what's going on.
In "Whimsical Fish," for example, a face turns into a
fish's head; while in "Fancy Dinner," dishes of food float
up off the table into what looks like the night sky.
Michael's drawings also require a bit of engagement from the viewer,
who will see the forms by completing the lines in their imagination.
The work also evokes the imagination of the senses. In "Marilyn,"
for example, one can almost feel the rush of air coming up from
an invisible grate to blow up the actress's skirt, a movement so
famous, it need only be hinted at with a seemingly casual swoop
of the pen. In "Chaplin I," one can almost hear the music
of the silents and expect the subject to teeter off the page in
his distinct waddle and hop down into the gallery.
Both artists also connect to each other through their expression
of whimsy in their art. Shklover enjoys just painting what comes
to mind, and she never knows how it's going to end up. In every
painting, the viewer's eye could travel back and forth several times
and still find little hidden gems not caught on the first glance.
"It's like making music," said Shklover, about adding
the color and shape to the canvas. "It's only ready when I
get the feeling that it's ready." Shklover said she always
has something mystical and mysterious going on in her paintings.
Michael's style, on the other hand, puts fun into slight gestures:
Chaplin's tip of his cap, Marilyn's slight tilt of her shoulder,
both evoke feelings of playfulness.
Shklover, who was born in Moscow and lived in Israel before coming
to Canada in 1996, studied fashion design at the Moscow University
of Design. She has a bachelor's degree in decorative arts. Her paintings
often reflect her Judaism, and the faces in her work are always
those of Jews, she said. "Fancy Dinner," which shows two
people enjoying a quiet night eating under the night sky, is about
"the other side of Jewish life in Israel," Shklover said
in an interview on opening night. "Voice of the Skies"
was inspired by the music of a young Israeli composer.
Michael was born in Tokyo and moved to Vancouver in 1990. She studied
classical animation at Vancouver Film School. Her work is the result
of combining Japanese brush strokes, which she learned at home,
with classical animation training.
"I was fascinated by lines," said Michael, "by the
movement of lines in classical animation. I wanted to apply that
in something different, so I combined it with Japanese brush skills.
Just a little push [with the brush] makes a big difference in what
you see. I wanted to introduce the Japanese style to a Canadian
and especially younger audiences."
Creative Interpretation: Drawings and Paintings by Akiko Michael
and Irena Shklover runs until July 8 at the Jewish Community Centre
of Greater Vancouver. Call 604-257-5111 or visit www.jccgv.com.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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