Symbiosis
“Happy Ending” means a start of something new, the transition of destruction into purity, and the moment of “0” and re-birth. An “End” can generally be perceived as a “happy end” as it creates, develops, and becomes the beginning of something new and pure. Throughout the years Radchenko’s artistic practice has been influenced by the Zero Art Movement, an international group of artists, which included Otto Piene, Lucio Fontana and Pierro Manzoni, and was founded by Heinz Mack in 1957. She highlights the ideas of the Zero Art Movement and the “Zero” approach to disruption and repair, war and peace, and centralising the concept of the Anthropocene taking over nature. This concept of “0” becomes relevant even today with socio-political and environmental issues rising around the globe. Radchenko creates a conversation with the viewer — with an “end” there always will be a “new beginning”.
““a zone of silence and of pure possibilities for a new beginning.”– Otto Piene”
This is an ending that leads “to the pure possibilities [of the] new beginning.” Radchenko’s work depends on scientific data on life cycle (i.e. birth and rebirth) processes, thus becoming a metaphor for the Anthropocene, discussed in the recent work of Donna Haraway. The abstract bloated shapes within the canvas become imperishable, as they represent a beginning of purity in a constant cycle of birth and rebirth. The shapes of bloated tissues within the series “Symbiosis”, their flatness and emptiness within the canvas, create a simple yet strong composition allowing them to have a dialogue between themselves and create their own bacterial colonies. Colors challenge the shapes; with colors being flamboyant and shapes being organic, they create an illusional vision of balance.
The background of the canvas is a uniform and lifeless yet vibrant sterile environment, becoming an ending but also a beginning of something new. This background allows the abstract forms to float and form “the life cycle”.
Oleksandra Radchenko is a Ukrainian born contemporary artist based in Reading, U.K.
She graduated from Ruskin School of Art with a BA in Art and Philosophy (2013-2017), and also received her MFA in Fine Art (2019) from RSA. She mainly works on large scale installation art and two dimensional images. Radchenko establishes practice-based research that combines the archival research of current scientific data and multiple forms of visualisation. White (light) becomes a universal colour and material for her work, as it emphasises the concept of birth and rebirth, the transition of destruction into purity, and the moment of “0”.