Grotto 1989

Oleg Holosiy made this painting, Grotto, with oils on canvas. It looks like a murky dream, doesn’t it? A world conjured from midnight blues and forest greens. I can almost see Oleg, brush in hand, coaxing these colors into being, one stroke at a time. Imagine him, standing back, squinting, maybe tilting his head, trying to capture something that keeps shifting and dissolving right before his eyes. Look at that central form, like a ghostly face or a blooming flower, rendered in translucent pinks. Is it emerging or disappearing? That daub of yellow over there sings out against the somber tones – a flicker of hope, perhaps? There’s something really human about the way Holosiy lets the paint breathe, the way he allows for ambiguity and uncertainty. It reminds me that painting is a conversation, not just with oneself but with all the artists who came before. We’re all just trying to make sense of the world, one brushstroke at a time.