Zaza saw what she was happy for
Zaza saw what she was happy for, 2024
mixed media on canvas 190 x 120 cm
«I have always opposed the opinion that an artist draws only when he's in pain», Elene Metreveli often repeated. Striking, sociable, and very sensitive to the world, she always carried her art, relying on these senses. But in 2018 she had to face the circumstances that took those senses away. The artist's life was divided into “before” and “after”.
Elene was born in Tbilisi in 1988. After Georgia’s difficult exit from the Soviet Union, which shaped artist’s tenacious and driven personality, she went to Moscow.
At the age of 15 Elene entered the Surikov’s Moscow State Academic Art Institute, becoming the youngest applicant in 250 years. She was constantly in the search for "her own" art, spending a lot of time in circles of painters, sculptors, performers, and designers. The special perception of space gained at the university, as well as the absence of a strict obligation to study academic painting, gave the artist a certain courage, that is easily seen in any of her works – whether it be canvas, mural in public spaces, or a print for a clothing brand.
Elene managed to work with worldwide fashion brands (Guram Gvasalia, Palmer Johnson, Ria Keburia, Yashka Thore, Yulia Kalmanovich, Alexander Arutyunov...), organize personal exhibitions and performances, design spaces (The Box, Beer Happens, Ess-Thetik, Buchone). But in 2018, health problems interfered with her love affair with art – her eyesight began to deteriorate.
After being diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, Elene started reacquainting herself with her own senses. Her vision did not just get worse – occasionally she was completely blind. But Elene continued to draw, and, having experienced a new state, began to reflect it in her art. When an artist’s vision fails, she closes her eyes and relies on her intuition.
Elene faces every new challenge with paint in her hands. Persistence and sincere reluctance to part with art certainly influenced her perception of art. And if earlier her paintings could be based solely on an idea, now they are always specific images and feelings – how Elene sees the world now. Thus, a new creative unit came to light, incorporating the experience of a successful artist and a blind child studying the world with genuine interest and greed.
190
120
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