What secrets are kept by the symbols of the ancient Urals: Graphic artist creates paintings that look like puzzles

The stunning ornaments of the Ural artist Yuri Lisovsky are like mysterious puzzles that you want to look at over and over again. Fish, birds, people, flowers - all this fascinates with its original, sacred beauty and attracts like a magnet. You don't need to be an expert to understand that paintings with intricate ornaments and subjects have a deep meaning. We invite you to get acquainted with this unique artist and his works.

Yuri Lisovsky represents the direction of ethnofuturists, telling in modern language about the ancient Finno-Ugric art. Its graphics look like figurative and symbolic messages, and the patterns are like some kind of mysterious language, understandable only to the ancient tribes that once lived in the Urals. Paintings and ceramics by Yuri Lisovsky are deeply rooted and represent a symbiosis of Finno-Ugric pagan motives and folk art of the Komi Republic.

The artist explains that he was interested in mysticism and mythology as a child. In one interview, he shared that he once played with his brother and scared him badly, as a result of which he began to stutter. The parents brought the boy to his grandmother, a healer, and after the ancient ritual, all of his brother's fears disappeared and he stopped stuttering. Lisovsky explains that in the Komi Republic in every district there are such old women who, without a doctor's diploma, successfully treat people and pass on their secrets only to the closest ones.

When studying Finno-Ugric mythology, from which Lisovsky draws inspiration, he collects the most valuable data bit by bit. According to the artist, folk mythology is full of many secrets that have yet to be solved by modern people, and it is inexhaustible. This is what attracts her.

In addition to studying the culture of the ancient peoples of the Urals, Lisovsky finds ideas for his images in nature. He often goes to the forest, to the river and observes, photographs interesting places.

Experts say that Lisovsky's artistic method can be compared with such a well-known ancient image as a spiral: creating a picture, he puts many meanings into it, which ultimately fold into a clear image, a symbol. And the viewer will have to solve it. His paintings help modern people to at least partially comprehend the ancient culture of local peoples and deep northern philosophy.

At one of his exhibitions, Lisovsky explained to journalists that in his work he passes through a rich layer of the ethnic culture of the Finno-Ugric peoples, offering to look at the Komi mythology from a new angle. Although some of his paintings have a double and even triple meaning, their main idea is the harmonious existence of nature, man and the universe.

In addition to graphics and ceramics, the artist designs books - for example, his illustrations can be seen in the “Encyclopedia of Ural Mythology. Mythology of the Komi”and“Tales of the Komi People”. He also conducts workshops for children and adults. However, he does not pursue additional earnings, believing that the artist should have time to think over his ideas.

Needless to say, Russia is rich in unique, talented artists. By the way, some of them are self-taught, such as Igor Oleinikov. We invite you to read about this person and find out how self-taught artist from Russia drew illustrations for fairy tales and achieved world recognition.