Allegory of continuity (2020) Painting by Svitlana Korolievskaia

The artist returned to this picture three times. Originally it was painted in 1996, in 1997 the female image was rewritten. For the first time, the artist's emerging interest in the philosophical theme of the perishability of existence, which was later revealed in the graphic cycle of works "Time", was noted in this canvas. Initially, the picture was named differently: "Allegory of transience", later it acquired a completely different meaning - more life-affirming, but more on that later. In Egyptian mythology, there are many gods and goddesses, each of which performs its own function. It cannot be said that the heroine depicted on it is one of them. She is a generalized image of the inexorable passage of time, turning even the most powerful civilizations into decay. The Egyptian theme was chosen because it is the only most ancient civilization, information about which has reached us. The passage of time received a feminine embodiment due to the fact that the artist herself is a lady. And the artist, in essence, also stops the passage of time in his paintings, drawing a generalized image of the world around him, and becomes immortal in his works. And also because a woman as a mother gives rise to a new life. Sand falls from the girl's hands. She stands at ease on the ground, looking at nowhere with detachment. What is a millennium for an entire civilization is a moment for it. She seemed to be completely indifferent that before her eyes one generation was succeeding another, that all people went into oblivion - regardless of their titles and merit. Nothing can resist the ravages of time. The usual things change beyond recognition, great cultures disappear, leaving only pitiful artifacts to descendants. And only time stands proudly above everything, and calmly does its job. In 2020, the author suddenly rewrites the image of the main character and changes the semantic content of his canvas. Gears appear in the painting. Now everything does not just disappear, having spent the reserve of time allotted to him on Earth. Now life is being renewed, a cyclical rebirth appears. One civilization is replaced by the next, inheriting its achievements. Ancestors come to life in descendants, being reborn as their souls in new bodies. And shards of artifacts, like human remains, are just a reminder that the soul and life are more durable than mortal matter. It would be exhausting to live forever in one person. Therefore, people and civilizations leave when they fulfill their destiny.

Related themes

MythologyEgyptPaintingSandTime