I consider painting a game. As in all other games, in painting the successful result is crucial. My goal is to triumph in the battle against the surface, however I am only satisfied, if I am not just achieving any successful result, but only if I have realized my concept. Such an accomplishment can’t be planned beforehand, but one can try to find procedures to make it possible.
Life is a permanent movement in cycles and rhythms. Such rhythms shape my physical and psychological state and have a direct influence on my painting. The more secure and the more conscious my use of them, the higher my chances for a victory over the surface.
When I was three years old my father gave me gouache-paint for the first time. Until now I remember my first works with paint, as well as the feeling of joy I had with it. I was happy about the result and the memory of painting got a hold of me since. It forces me until now to apply paint on surfaces. Even if I don’t want to do this everytime – the physical impulse stays.
The pleasure of painting quickly vanishes, if the concept cannot be realized. The impossibility of realizing it is often not depending on varied techniques of painting, but on how one is able to actualize the different techniques. Working with different techniques allows to change the terrain and raises the chances for beating the surface. Such shifting movements are forming a technical rhythm which gives me the possibility to use my physical rhythm efficiently.
Before stepping in front of a surface, I’m thinking about the amount of time and energy I have to invest to be successful. During a wall painting called “Die Treppe” in a private home I calculated correctly. But in the church of St. Paul in Munich together with the Beautiful Formula Collective I needed double as much energy than what I was thinking beforehand. To save energy and activate it in the right moment I need different tactics. Rarely I succeed in beating the surface while clinging to only one tactic. Tactical entries create accentuated events where physical and technical rhythms are connected.
Munich, December 2013
Thanks for help realizing this text to Prof. Bernhard Lypp, Stefan Schessl and Audrey Shimomura
Oleksiy Koval 