Euroscapes

Euroscapes

Mar 6–30, 2014

March 6 – March 30, 2014
Gallery 4

Featuring Mira Hnatyshyn

Contemporary at Blue Star announces Euroscapes an exhibition by San Antonio based artist Mira Hnatyshyn, from March 6 through March 30, 2014. An Opening Reception will take place Thursday, March 6 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, and is open and free to the public.

Get a peek inside Mira’s studio on our first episode of Open Studios.

BIOGRAPHY:

Mira Hnatyshyn is a San Antonio-based painter of Eastern European heritage who uses art as a visual language to explore issues of culture, gender and human behavior. Her work has been exhibited locally and nationally and was featured in New American Paintings #96, West Edition and 100 Curators 100 Days, Saatchi Online Gallery, London, UK. Mira’s solo shows include Dear Garden: Anonymous Letters from You at Gallery 23 UTSA, San Antonio, TX; Happiness is Easy at UTSA Satellite Space, San Antonio, TX; Lineage at Cactus Bra, San Antonio, TX; Ides of Spring at Robot Art Gallery, San Antonio, TX; Fleshly Envelope at Stella Haus Art Space, San Antonio, TX; White Minutiae at Three Walls Gallery, San Antonio,TX. Her group shows include 11.11.11 at Gallery Nord, San Antonio, TX; Amalgamations 25: 28 Artists for 25 Great Years at Blue Star, San Antonio, TX; Texas Artists Exhibition at the Beeville Art Museum, Beeville, TX; Looking back: Seven Years of Art, Martinez Gallery, Troy, NY; Self-portraits: Inside and Out, Ayer Loft Gallery, Lowell, MA; Mother-Lowell Women’s Week, Ayer Loft Gallery, Lowell, MA. Mira’s work is included in the Saatchi collection in London and other private collections.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

“Euroscapes” is a painting installation that reflects my passion for studying patterns of sociocultural development that define the female condition in both contemporary and historical times. Referencing original photos of women in their daily lives, my installations are a modern take on simulacra, which seek to present an amplified version of realism. The resulting constructions of painted canvases and sculptural appendages capture an isolated moment in time but carry a sense of timelessness. They reveal a shared humanity between cultures and question the constraints of gender roles.

“Every Girl Wants To Be Queen” is a painting installation based on an original photograph of schoolgirls ascending the Tower of London. I was struck by the juxtaposition of the girls at the Tower and its violent history. The Queens Diamond Jubilee had taken place this same year, and I couldn’t help but wonder: Does every girl want to be queen? And what kind of queen would she be?

“The Braidbasket” is based on a photograph of women in a market square in Lviv, Ukraine. The women seated at a bench appeared to be frozen as a young flower lady dressed in beautiful peasantry costume walked off the frame to the left – towards the West. As the painting took shape in my studio, protests erupted in Kiev’s icy central square over the people’s desire to join the European Union. The title comes from the slogan that Ukraine is “The Breadbasket of Europe.” In traditional Ukrainian costume, women wear their hair in long braids. Collaged onto the painting’s surface is Ukrainian embroidery, embracing both the flesh and the landscape.