Stas Orlovski: Pastoral

About

In addition to new paintings and drawings, Orlovski will present a multi-media installation incorporating wall drawing, collage, and stop-motion animation.

A monumentally large, animated projection and wall drawing will cover the expanse of the gallery’s north space. In previous installations, intimate moments were projected on top of a wall drawing. Animations were projected within, overtop, or outside of drawn and collaged shapes that referenced imagery from his paintings and drawings. In this latest iteration, Orlovski has introduced the manipulation of various 3-dimensional objects during the stop-motion animation process to capture different types of motion. To further the cinematic effect, Orlovski has added camera moves that track images as they move through space. In one sequence of “Pastoral,” a female figure – the iconic modernist figure referencing Picasso’s Demoiselles pose – falls over a waterfall into the mist, and disappears behind rocks. Orlovski has activated the waterfall on a Victorian postcard using charcoal and chalk, and has
reconfigured the existing lighthouse into a female figure, which is caught in an endless fall.

Idyllic landscapes become brooding in the pastoral theme that is carried throughout the exhibition. Orlovski suggests darker emotions and complex undertones amidst these picturesque and Arcadian settings. Orlovski’s inspiration and collage material are taken from his collection of Victorian scrapbooks, Soviet-era Russian children’s books, Hungarian textiles, and Japanese prints. The works in this exhibition share the same set of images but are independent of each other. A flock of swallows appears in both a large painting and the animation. For the animated version, a single Russian swallow has been photographed with twelve different wing configurations,
multiplied, re-sized, and time remapped to create a flock of various sized birds flying along individual flight paths. Like Orlovski’s painting and drawing, the process for his animation is rooted in the idea of collage. Disparate images, each in their own time and space, are juxtaposed to create an ephemeral projection combining the handmade with digital technology. Orlovski’s “Pastoral” occupies the incongruous space between drawing and film.

Orlovski currently has a solo exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. “Stas Orlovski: Chimera,” a multi-media installation including sound, will be on view through January 11, 2015.

Stas Orlovski (b. 1969 Kishinev, Moldova) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Orlovski studied art in Toronto and Los Angeles, receiving a BFA from York University, a B.Ed from University of Toronto and an MFA from the University of Southern California. Orlovski has exhibited his work widely throughout the U.S., including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Long Beach Art Museum. He has had solo exhibitions at Traywick Contemporary in Berkeley, CA; Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago, IL; Pomona College Museum of Art, and the Pasadena Museum of California Art. His work has been acquired by prominent public and private collections including the American Embassy in Brussels, the Progressive Corporation, The Palm Springs Art Museum, and the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco. Orlovski has been awarded fellowships and grants by the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the Yaddo Corporation, the Omi International Art Center, the J. Paul Getty Trust Fellowship from the California Community Foundation, the City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Fellowship (COLA), the United States Artists Hatchfund, and the Center for Cultural Innovation.