Alien Canvas

Imagine this: 1000 years ago an ancient civilization gets visitors from outer space. The aliens are friendly and some of them stay with the natives to study their culture and exchange wisdom. Together they start to create new, exciting artworks using gold and silver paint in unusual ways, inspired by the visitors’ experiences from their intergalactic travels. The aliens use symbols of their own civilization while the natives make the paintings look familiar to their own people. How would we, people living in the 21st century understand these creations?

Of course, none of these really happened (as far as we know), but an artist, originally a photographer known as Yeltzin had a vision which he had to realize. The first painting (Ancient Treasure One) was an experiment that gave him an idea of the whole project, so he started creating one new artwork after another.

Watch this short movie about creating “Ancient Treasure”. Lots of closeup shots included so you can get an idea of how these artworks really look.

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It takes several weeks to finish one piece as it needs precision, a steady hand and lots of creative ideas. Only the main features are planned, the rest and the details are improvised. Each new part gives birth to brand new possibilities and ideas, and this is exactly the way Yeltzin likes to work. Never knowing what’s behind the next “corner”, surprising himself with every new step he takes towards finishing the work. Creating these works of art is a kind of meditation - just like looking at them and exploring every little feature, then seeing the whole picture, understanding it, and going back to the details again to find brand new fragments not noticed before. It’s like taking a walk in your hometown and discovering streets and buildings you have never seen before.

About the collections:
“Ancient Treasure” is the name of the first collection created by Yeltzin. It contains five pieces, from which two are very similar to eachother. The canvas is painted black representing the unknown depth of the endless universe and of course our yet undiscovered past. Two other colors appear on these paintings: gold and silver - representing the thousand year old treasure.

Enjoy browsing through the gallery and feel free to leave a comment or contact the artist!