PSYCHEDELICS

THE CLASSIFICATION OF SHALMIN’S PAINTINGS INTO ‘LANDSCAPE’ AND ‘PSYCHEDELICS’ IS NOTIONAL BECAUSE HIS PSYCHEDELIC PAINTINGS OFTEN ARISE FROM THE LANDSCAPES AS THE NEXT LEVEL OF THEIR PERCEPTION AND INTERPRETATION.

In a traditional sense, psychedelic art assumes the use of psychedelics within the creative process or at the very least, the artist usually produces their works within an altered state of consciousness. In the context of digital art and more specifically in the context of Shalmin’s paintings, we see psychedelia of a different kind. The artist is not using psychedelics; it is his life experiences and consequently his emotions towards them that serve as the mind-altering substances. In this case, the artist gets pulled into the painting, dissolves into it and sometimes temporarily loses control over its creation. To an extent, he denounces his ego and gives into his intuition, his internal impulses. As a result, in these psychedelic compositions, the image becomes softer in focus and a wider sense of perception opens up, discerned not only through the eyes but also through the rest of the body. This process of perception is reminiscent of a dream, when an ability to see with the eyes closed is acquired. A process where the body reacts to the images that arise in the subconscious mind.

KIRILL SVETLIYAKOV,
ART EXPERT AND CRITIC, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LATEST TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS AT THE TRETIYAKOV ART GALLERY, MOSCOW, RUSSIA

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