Samson. From the Heroic babies series 1989

Vasiliy Ryabchenko made this painting, Samson, with mixed media on canvas, and just looking at it, I can feel him building up the image, adding collage elements to the painted surface, almost like he's layering meaning. The background has these deep greens and blacks, applied with loose brushstrokes, creating this moody, atmospheric space that is offset by the collage elements. I imagine Ryabchenko moving between drawing and painting, responding to the emerging image, perhaps guided by intuition as much as intention. The scribbled lines around the figure are so great - they remind me of Cy Twombly's work, or maybe even Guston's late paintings. They really give the impression of movement to the otherwise static baby figure. It's this conversation between the abstract background and the figurative elements which gives the painting its dynamism, inviting us to contemplate the heroic in the everyday and the power of artistic creation.