Experimenting with diverse media, I would like to bring attention to the beauty and order that exists within nature.
My art reflects my belief in the importance of balance between our animal instincts and intellectual aspirations.
Traditionally, inspiration for my work came from observing nature on our planet, but recently I became fascinated by the imagery of different planets that is so generously being shared by NASA. Photographs of Mars are especially surprising and fascinating. Which led me to a new body of work, “Our Red Planet.”
While I am totally supportive of scientific exploration and hope one day to travel to Mars myself, I loathe the idea that the Moon or Mars can be used for resources to satisfy our needs here on Earth. Hence the title has an ironic connotation. How do we think that Mars is our planet?
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While working on Mars paintings in my studio, the outside world became increasingly agitated with different political events and natural disasters all around the globe. One of them is the war in Ukraine, a devastating and — for me — a very personal tragedy.
I am half-Ukrainian and half-Russian. I have known and remember only loving and caring relationships between people of these two nations. I have many happy memories from my childhood spent in both countries.
Ukraine and Russia are not just neighbors, they are very closely related which makes this war a horrific tragedy on so many levels.
If you understand nature, you understand why this is happening, but understanding why this is happening doesn’t make it less painful. I agree with those who think that this war was completely avoidable and wish all energy and resources that are being spent on war were instead directed towards diplomatic resolution of the conflict. There are so many lives lost already and so much destruction, but we are still in a very dangerous escalation.
It is my dream for these countries that I love: the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine to be friends.
Imagine Peace.
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The painful reality gave me confidence to realize that my art is made for the times like this. I offer my new exhibition, “Our Red Planet: Anna Bogatin Ott” at the Delaware Art Museum, as a sanctuary, a safe meditative space for all to use for contemplation and healing.
Some of my paintings, like “Glorious Truth,” are philosophical commentaries on the way history is being written and the way events are being presented. This work is meant to invite viewers to contemplate the nature of media, and to remind people to be cautious when taking the news at face value.
My sculpture “Emergency Blanket” highlights the fact that things got so hot on “our red planet” that we all might need an emergency blanket at any moment. Its softly reflective surface might suggest an idea that a better world begins within oneself.
A new variation of the wine drawings series created with red wine is inspired by ancient writings on scrolls, primitive ritualistic activities and spiritual meditative practices. It is about making contact through communication, including nonverbal communication, and an effort to understand, merge and adapt Eastern and Western cultural traditions. The root of this interest lies in my experience of living in different countries and my attempts to contact people with whom I have shared little or no common language. I think of them as visual poetry. For viewers, it may elicit personal memories, and a sense of connection to a larger whole.
In the center of the gallery, I created a labyrinth using photography of ocean waves. I hope visitors will follow the meditative path to the center of the exhibition. It is meant to heighten our awareness of our bodies and free our minds from anxiety and negative thoughts. As peacefulness settles in, perception increases and opens the viewer to the possibility of experiencing wholeness and unity with the universe.
When I paint, I feel free and at peace. The labyrinth journey reflects my painting process, a connection that is essential to the result.
Art is my contribution to the well-being of humanity. With all my work, I strive to create a peaceful experience that could help us keep our humanity under critical conditions. I invite you to spend time in “Our Red Planet,” to use it as a space of sanctuary for contemplation, healing, and finding peace and strength to love one another.
Ukrainian-born exhibiting artist Anna Bogatin Ott shares her reflections on our relationship with space and our own planet, and on the conflict in her home country, in the exhibition ‘Our Red Planet: Anna Bogatin Ott’ at the Delaware Art Museum, open through July 16.
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