Painting of fire, or When hooliganism in porches becomes art
Painting of fire, or When hooliganism in porches becomes art

Video: Painting of fire, or When hooliganism in porches becomes art

Video: Painting of fire, or When hooliganism in porches becomes art
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Stephen Spazuk and his fire birds
Stephen Spazuk and his fire birds

Fire is an element commonly associated with destruction, but it can also be an instrument of art. Continuing the traditions of primitive people and surrealists of the mid-twentieth century, Canadian artist Stephen Spazuk uses the fumage technique. He paints pictures with fire.

Image of a horse on a wall in Lascaux cave (France), 17000 BC
Image of a horse on a wall in Lascaux cave (France), 17000 BC

If you set fire to the paper, usually only a handful of ash remains, and nothing else. But if you “fumigate” the surface with smoke from a candle or a kerosene lamp, then you can paint real pictures with the help of soot. This is exactly what primitive people did thousands of years ago, leaving behind world-famous examples of rock art.

Fumage. Wolfgang Paalen, 1937
Fumage. Wolfgang Paalen, 1937

In modern art, the fumage technique (drawing with fire) was the first to be applied by the surrealist artist Wolfgang Paalen. In the 1930s. he again began to use fire like paint. This technique did not become popular, but it has survived to this day.

Bird. Stephen Spazuk
Bird. Stephen Spazuk

Contemporary Canadian artist Steven Spazuk said in an interview that he started experimenting with fumage when he had a dream. “I was in the gallery and looked at a black and white landscape, and I knew that this painting was done with fire, and I completely 'understood' this technique,” he said. "It was in April 2001 and since then I have been working with fire."

Running hare. Stephen Spazuk, 2017
Running hare. Stephen Spazuk, 2017
Beluga. Stephen Spazuk, 2014
Beluga. Stephen Spazuk, 2014

Unconventional techniques have often led to unpredictable results. This intrigued the artist very much. According to Spazuk on his website, even controlled fire can be "both constructive and destructive."

Stephen Spazuk at work
Stephen Spazuk at work
Bird on the cob of corn. Stephen Spazuk
Bird on the cob of corn. Stephen Spazuk

For his work, the artist uses very simple tools: a lighter, brushes and feathers, with which "forms form and light from soot." Small colored elements are painted with acrylic paints. This is how birds, portraits, mysterious figures, and weapons emerge from the artist's hands.

A large portrait made up of numerous soot drawings. Stephen Spazuk
A large portrait made up of numerous soot drawings. Stephen Spazuk

Stephen Spazuk for his works uses one of the most powerful elements, fire. It has long attracted people, appealing to primitive sensations. That is why they are very popular all over the world. fire festivals, which sometimes turn into real primitive orgy.

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