Katya Belena’s Micro Gallery exhibit Dawn Dusk is an invitation to stay in the changing moment of transition like a darkening or lightening sky.
WHEN DAWN AND DUSK play out before us in the sky, we normally think about them in the context of what they will transition to; it will now get lighter, or it will now get darker. Our attention moves past this moment as quickly as the sky does.
In this collection, I wanted to dwell in that liminal light and remove the assurance of what would happen next.
If it’s unclear if a painting represents dawn or dusk, how can you predict what the light will do next? These paintings ask that we stay with the moment instead of projecting ahead into the rest of the day or night.
Black lines and dots guide the eye, like how birds, leaves, bare winter branches, and others play in every sky-scape. Metallic paint adds a temperamental sort of brightness, inviting us to consider time cyclically rather than linearly; we look for those times of day that bring the painting to life.
The experience of reading poetry also inspired this collection. Not any particular poem or sentiment, but the process of quiet inquiry and reflection itself.
We observe as we read; we also absorb and percolate. We reckon and reconcile. We often leave a poem feeling emptier than before we read it, and that is a beautiful thing.
Ultimately, these paintings aspire to bring attention to the quiet, transitional, precious beauty of our day-to-day reality.
Katya immigrated from Kazakhstan as a child, and spent most of her life in NYC. She finds deep inspiration and wisdom in the in-between, the threshold, the ‘not quite.’ Mindful inquiry infuses her artwork in both concept and process. Katya currently lives and works in Reno, Nevada with her partner and their two greyhounds. Her website is katyabelena.com
The complex simplicity is stunning.