Missionary symbolic graphics by Anastasiya Ovsyannikova
This article is about a woman, whose perception of life formed through the prism of understanding human capabilities by means of medical knowledge, observation, practical work in the conditions of emergency medical care, as well as of assistance in overcoming pain and suffering of people who found themselves in uncontrollable state of shock.
Gradually, her professional interests have been defined. They encompassed the scope from the in-depth study of the origins of behavioral psychology and neurobiological mechanisms of emotional states of the individuals to ability of these mechanisms to influence motivation to restore health and control one's own destiny.
Anastasiya Ovsyannikova graduated from the Russian National Research Medical University named after N.I. Pirogov, and for five years upon completion of internship, have worked as a doctor of critical care ambulance service, so professionalism and strength of mind are not something she lacks. I'd like to emphasize the word "Research" in the name of the university, which very well suits Anastasiya's character of a scientist and experimentalist apt to study human physical capabilities at the moments of mental and physical stress. Being very fond of sports she completed her residency at the department of Sports Medicine and applied her knowledge and experience working at the Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Medical Rehabilitation, Restorative and Sports Medicine.
A creative in-depth search at the junction of medicine and psychology led Anastasiya to the Institute of Oriental Medicine of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (the Department of Ayurveda—the great Vedic teaching providing insight on the key principles and laws of the surrounding universe, literally translated from Sanskrit as "the science of life"). Anastasiya got acquainted with the Taoist Feng Shui system, the Indian technique of meditation called Vipassana (the process of self-purification through self-observation), explored the depths of the esoteric theosophy of Helena Blavatsky, and mastered the techniques of the Reiki—Japanese spiritual and healing practice (the so-called "palm healing").
As a well-educated person who made all the way in medicine from modernity to the origins of "Vedas" (traced back thousands of years) and touched the mysteries of interpreting the prophecies of ancient signs, amulets, totems, talismans, and many other sacred objects (that surprisingly, preserved their psychological power even in the 21st century), Anastasiya accumulated significant knowledge, which served her as a creative source for development of a special direction in the graphic art.
Life in modern society is very similar to the prehistoric era, when people communicated through signs. In the high-speed mode of information exchange, a new alphabet of memes—combining information, emotion, and evaluative opinion—began to form. The meme becomes a unit of cultural information (R. Dawkins). New creative forms of signs and symbols, such as stickers, pictograms, technical symbols etc., have been developed. A QR code, for instance,—a sign containing huge amount of information—became an imperative social attribute for all people on our planet in the the third decade of the 21st century. Psyche of a modern human, like in previous historical times, turned out to be quite capable of instant perception and finding connection between the symbolic sign and a real life, as well as of evaluating information encoded in it, and reading the emotion hidden behind the symbolic visual image.
The latest discoveries in the field of subnuclear physics, quantum mechanics, and cosmology proved there's close connection between matter and energy (The Theory of Everything, by Stephen Hawking). The quantum theory of elementary particles substantiates the possibility of instantaneous interaction between the particles of a polarized field regardless of the distance (Charles Bennett), as well as the ability of human mental energy to change the characteristics of a quantum field (Werner Heisenberg).
The human mind (scientifically recognized as the part of the energetic and information fields) is able to radiate conscious mental energy, which is enhanced by the emotional state of an individual. It can control the state of health, affect the choice of events in an infinite set of probable realities, and, therefore, change the way of fate (Joe Dispenza).
Anastasiya Ovsyannikova, who has a broad range of knowledge in a number of related fields of medicine, psychology, cosmology, and esoterics, found herself at the forefront of the latest achievements in the field of neuropsychological emotional programming, capable of installing behavioral motivation in a person, and even restoring physical strength and health under directed emotional influence.
Anastasiya not only applied this knowledge in her medical practice, but also used it for creation of signs in visual graphic art, which will be discussed later.
Due to a birth of a child, Anastasiya had a chance to slow down her hectic pace of life as a doctor. It helped her realise she had a passion for fine art, so she immersed in the world of art studies with her previous zeal and started attending painting courses offered by the best artists in Moscow. Gradually, her art transformed from student works to exhibition-quality paintings. She felt the taste of participation in Moscow and international exhibitions, such as Golden Time Talent—2021; Art Portrait—2021; Luxemburg Art Prize—2021; Moscow–Cairo SAHAR—2022; Dali`s Mustache—2022; Russian Art Week—2022, where her works were judged by a highly qualified jury and were awarded diplomas. In March 2022, Anastasiya Ovsyannikova became a member of the Eurasian Art Union (EXU), what undoubtedly is an evidence of her high level of professionalism as an artist.
At the same time, the aesthetic principles of the author—similar to those of the school of Neoplasticism (Piet Mondrian, Theo Van Doesburg) and characterised by the minimalism of graphic objects and special attitude to the background—were formed and begin to manifest themselves. In symbolic graphic objects conveying various messages we can recognise Anastasiya's unique style that have absorbed her knowledge in medical neuropsychology and expertise in sacred Eastern cultures.
"Art with a purpose", that's what Anastasiya calls her direction in art, in which signs are endowed with the power of the artist's (and neuropsychologists's) meditative message and psychological mission of transfer, suggestion, and affirmation of the innermost desires of an art buyer.
Anticipating the vector of spiritual desires of art buyers, Anastasiya makes an excellent marketing move, dividing her works into groups by moral philosophical categories rather than by painting technique—as is generally accepted among artists—so that every individual could make an emotional choice according to his existential preferences.
All of Anastasiya's artworks fall into one of the following six categories (the artist considers six a sacred number): Harmony, Abundance, Glory, Love, Success, and Seeking Help from Universe. Such philosophical choice is not easy to make. Establishing life priorities is a big decision defining the fate, and the picture becomes its sacred witness.
This is how sign takes on a new meaning. It's a painting endowed with a mission to activate internal resources of an individual to achieve his goal. Anastasiya also attaches high importance to correct placement of the painting—following Feng Shui system—in the buyer's living space. On her website one can find not only paintings, but also design solutions to create a favorable environment for meditation and self-exploration.
Further, the author of the article, by virtue of his competence as an art critic and a specialist in quantum art, describes and evaluates some of Anastasiya Ovsyannikova's artworks, which represent pronounced stylistic trends in fine art and are typical examples of the artist's style.
Formally, many of Anastasiya's works can be classified as a form of geometric abstraction. In the "I am in Everything" painting, one can see a bunch of large rectangular shapes painted in primary colours. Transition of the quantum flow into the author's profile looks very original. As Anastasiya explains, "This painting shows how all of a sudden I realized and felt an absolute unity with the universe, with all the worlds, and all forms of energy!"
The "Secret Signs" painting is dedicated to the memory of Kazimir Malevich. Here a winding path, accompanied by Masonic signs leads to the square of the window of light, into which a graphic triangle—standing for Greek "delta", with a symbolic image of the all-seeing eye of the great architect of the universe observing the works of freemasons—is inscribed.
In the "Stellar Magic of Numbers" painting, staying within the frames of neoplasticism, Anastasiya compositionally contrasts the cold rational space of geometric rectangles to the bright flickering of eight-pointed stars (an analogy to the Star of Bethlehem) of different size.
"The Road to Glory" is a bright minimal art representing philosophical generalization. Artist put only two strokes onto a flat turquoise background. They both are naturalistically true in their carelessness and uneven surface of the paint layer. One of the brushstrokes—the colour of dried blood—starts at the bottom of the canvas and goes beyond its upper border. Another stroke in orange symbolizes living in fullness of joy. It is wider, but barely reaches three-quarters of the height of the canvas where it dries up. This is an excellent composition.
Anastasiya's female images are of symbolic nature. The silhouette is endowed with all the mythological poetics, generalized to the emblem of intimate attractiveness. In the "Golden Woman" painting, a colourful strand of copper-red hair hides the recognizable features in the portrait, so that only brightly painted lips and a refined jawline are visible. In another canvas called the "Primordial Women", the author, leaving room for the viewer's imagination, depicts exotic Graces dancing through the flames of a ritual bonfire. The sea waves are parting, and Modern Aphrodite is walking on the water surface in the eponymous painting. In her worldview, the artist appeals to the sensory perception of reality and helps the viewer practice active imagination through art therapy. Creating pictures associative to dramatic situations, she evokes imaginary symbolism freeing deep layers of the subconscious from harmful complexes of human delusions and the consequences of karma of the mankind.
In the "Tree" painting, Anastasiya expresses the idea of the formation and inheritance of family qualities by means of abstract painting. The artwork depicts the moment of meeting and interpenetration of energetic light (colour) quantum flows, in which the autonomy of colour of each one of them is still preserved. This predetermines the genome fractality of reproduction and subsequently becomes the basis of the DNA in the ancestral ties.
In the "Connection with the Ancestry" painting, the artist expressed the process of transition of the quantum flow into matter by means of symbolic representation of formation of the primary basis in the form of skin tissue. "The color scheme of the painting, corresponding to the laws of Feng Shui, activates the energy of the blood line in space," Anastasiya explains.
Painting called "Spindle" concludes the blood line theme . It depicts the interweaving of human destinies in a sea of possible meetings and breakups, presented by the artist in a form of a lace created by ancient Greek goddesses of fate Moiras (eternal spinners).
In the two paintings—the "Golden Bird of the World" and "Where the Earth Meets the Sky"—Anastasiya creates shocking colouristic pictures of visionary enlightenment. On canvases, the artist shows picturesque "auratic glow" of cosmic phenomena. The artworks are painted in a complex fluid fusion technique with acrylic paints, that enable the artist to manipulate liquid colour flows directly on the surface of the primed canvas as per the idea behind artistic composition.
The "Garden of Eden", "Poppies", and "Peonies of Love" paintings belong to the Abundance conceptual category. Flowers are a manifestation of divine harmony in a variety of colors and movements of shapes. The beauty and rationality of nature during flowering and conception of a new life form the basis of rebirth and reproduction, and are reflected in the religions of many ethnic groups in such processes as resurrection, reincarnation, and cognition of karmic truth.
Anastasiya also paints widespread canonical signs, endowing them with certain tonalities of colouristics in accordance with Feng Shui, taking into account location of the painting relative to the cardinal directions.
In the "Golden Rays" painting, two white rays form V-shape—a symbol of victory or freedom—on the textured golden ribbed surface. This image, according to Anastasiya, stimulates perseverance in achieving one's goals and belongs to the Success conceptual category. The traditional esoteric sign of Angel Wings is a meditative setting meant to activate perception of high energies and vibrations of the quantum field of the universe, and develop a sense of protection, healing, unity with the world, and love.
The creative path of Anastasiya Ovsyannikova is an example of convergence of unique capabilities of a modern neuropsychologist, knowledge of modern medicine and Ayurveda (the ancient science of healing), and professional artistic view of a member of the Eurasian Art Union, who reevaluated the sacred, magical, psychological sign as a visual art object. By creating the art with a purpose Anastasiya developed a new direction of missionary symbolic graphics in the visual arts.
Let's wish Anastasiya Ovsyannikova success and wide recognition in artistic community, among critics, and fellow artists.
Grigory Ginzburg,
Academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences (Hannover, Germany),
Academician, Chairman of the Presidium of the Art Council
of the IAMAQ International Academy of Quantum Art (Milan, Italy),
Honored Artist of Europe,
Honorary Doctor of Art History, Professor,
Head of the Expert Council of the Eurasian Art Union (Moscow, Russia),
member of the editorial board of the Russian Gallery of the 21st Century magazine.