Art
Larger Than Life
DuBasky’s Oversize Work Focuses on Animal, Plant Life Along Silk Road
by Vanessa LaFasso
I
mpressionism has aways been limited to the
“less is more” philosophy. Small brushstrokes
and pure unmixed color are used to achieve light
and form. Valentina DuBasky’s exhibit “Riverbirds and Rainforests” at the National Academy of
Sciences flirts with Impressionism in her representation of ancient cave drawings based on her travels to
Southeast Asia.
DuBasky’s work focuses chiefly on animal and
plant life found along the Silk Road route. The sacred
Crane of the Himalayas, for example is a repetitive
theme in almost all of her paintings, and her renderings of plant life appear to be predominantly aquatic,
such as reads and will is often found on a riverbank.
Each painting, however is much larger than the
planter aquatic life DuBasky depicts. Many of the
canvases are massive
in size, giving the
artist plenty of room
to experiment with
third-person perspective. For example,
in “Pacific Current,”
small and nearly
microscopic aquatic
creatures appear on two
giant canvases attached
together. The birds are
standing on the shore
above, so viewers have
a sense of being in the
water as they look up at
the birds.
Yet perspective is
not the most interesting
aspect of DuBasky’s
work. Her use of short, horizontal brush strokes
mimics the impressionistic styles of the 17th century,
however, they are not necessarily used to demonstrate
light and shadow. Instead, the minimalist strokes
give us a sense of motion. “Lake Site with Crane”
teams with background images of smaller birds is a
Crane stands on a riverbank. The short strokes seem
to mimic the wind that carries the small birds in the
distance, with the bent reads near the Crane further
Valentina DuBasky creates large,
impressionist-like paintings that
focus chiefly on animal and plant
life found along the Silk Road
route, which are now on view at
the National Academy of Sciences.
supporting this idea.
But is it too much motion? Many of DuBasky’s
paintings are almost dizzying to look at because she
include so many elements in one work. Random
geometric shapes quick brushstrokes and a multitude
of background and foreground images with no
discernible horizon line do not leave any open space
on the canvas. And because her work is meant to
imitate the simplicity of cave drawings, DuBasky is
forced to give her subjects such large proportions to
mimic this organic setting. The effect is comparable
to viewing a pointillist painting (whereby a picture
is constructed from dots of pure color that blend into
recognizable shapes from a distance) but with the
canvas held up to your face – certainly staring at just
the tiny dots would give anyone a headache. Yet in
DuBasky’s work, we do not have the choice to pull
back to view the larger image because her work is so
large to begin with.
The impressionistic nature of DuBasky’s work
however, is again evident in the subtlety of some of
the smaller size paintings as well as her choice of
color. For example, in “Mountain Site,” tubers appear
against the backdrop of a dissipated mountain. One
might almost missed the image of closer examination
was not taken, but the faint glow is a surprising feast
for the eyes. In addition, “Forest Site with Stags and
Cranes” is a menagerie of plant and animal
life painted in deep gold and brown hues.
Her cranes, too, often appear in rich reds
or oranges against blue and sometimes
purple feathered riverbirds.
However, DuBasky’s use of texture
in her paintings diverge from traditional
impressionistic style. Instead of alluding
to depth and substance, DuBasky uses wax
to lift the paid off the canvas and in some
instances her canvas is made of linen. The
rough lines in the linen material and the
wax give viewers the effect of the unseen
surfaces found in the original cave paintings that inspired her style.
The texture in combination with the lack of proportion and perspective adequately mimics such primitive art. Whether or not it was intentional, DuBasky
provides us with a unique blending of high art and
primeval expressions of scenery and wildlife.
“Riverbirds and Rainforests: Paintings by Valentina
DuBasky” runs through Nov. 11 at the National
Academy of Sciences, 2100 C St. NW. For more
information, please call (202) 334-2436 or visit:
Nationalacademies.org\arts.
Vanessa LaFaso is an editorial intern for The
Washington Diplomat.