What does "femininity" mean today?

American artist Tatyana Chaar is looking for answers to this question through her art, that explores the female nature.

Each era has its own "metaphorical fund", however, there are symbols that remain well-read at any epoch. Tatyana has chosen to symbolically depict a woman in the form of a flower, drawn as if with a magnifying glass. The artist is focused on what idea it carries as a symbol. She does not refer to any specific kind, these are combined images of flowers that personify femininity.

For Tatyana, personally, her art is a process of self-discovery and search for her own fundamental basis in contemporary reality. It is a psychoanalytic process, consonant with looking into femininity in general.

Tatyana explores both her own nature and ideas about women without the provocative gestures that are characteristic of modern life, respecting taboo and achieving a balance between idea and aesthetics. Her artistic practice is based on creating her own language, where images, shades, textures and light symbolize a tender and passionate woman, her fragility and strength.

Compositionally, her flowers and floral abstractions are influenced by O'Keeffe and Paul Strand. However, being fascinated by their works, Tatyana searches for her own meanings, adapts their ideas to her unique vision of the world, synthesizing abstraction with realism, and intellect with intuition.

Each of her works combines many influences that convey changing ideas about a woman. All these connect with the deep meaning of her art and its inextricable bond with contemporality. Her constant need for musical parallels bridges the artist with the doctrine of synesthesia of European modernists.

Dynamically rethinking modern aspects related to femininity, Tatyana Chaar creates art that is a metaphor for eternal values. It gives her hope that a woman will be able to keep her soul blossoming even in the most difficult socio-cultural conditions.

Julia Sysalova

Curator, AICA member

Vice President of Institute of the Mediterranean Culture, Greece