Victor Nizovtsev

The painting is a metaphor for time.  Unlike real life, the painting allows you to reverse the aging process and relies on the viewer’s mood and eye.  The painting is about intrinsic beauty held in all ages – be it the classical beauty of youth or the more refined beauty, matured like wine and presented by the mature queen.

Summer Park – Autumn

The title of this piece is from a park in downtown St. Petersburg, Russia.  French and Italian architects built the city itself, as well as the park in the painting.  Tsar Peter the Great invited these craftsmen to create a capital with the best features of western civilization.  The park, which holds great historical significance for Russian culture, is a place of sanctuary from the breathtaking speed of modern life  -- where statues from Roman and Greek mythology and historical Russian characters are frozen in time.  Despite its many glories this park, in two short weeks, it turns from precious summer to long gray snowy winters.  The celebration of bright yellow, green and red colors makes this transition more dramatic.  The wetness of the leaves, a three-dimensional illusion of the painting, invites you to spend some time in a world of nature set apart from the city in which it is located.

Sleeping mermaids provoke a very deep response from the viewer.  I believe this is because humans have always wanted to possess some magic power from the surrounding animal world – like large feathery wings that would allow them to fly or a scaly tail to propel them through the water like a fish. 

My mermaid seems surprisingly human because she is peacefully resting after a long day.  Her face is peaceful, her dreams tranquil, her body’s position radiates calm and happiness.    The painting captures these feelings.  The feelings are contagious, drawing the viewer in to share in the joy of this imaginary world.  It is comforting to find a small corner of life – a painting – a book – time alone - which gives us quiet and peace of mind.

 VN