The Other Side of Glass

Lavra’s Koliory Gallery opened Natalia Khatsko’s one-woman show last Sunday. The young woman artist from Lviv specializes in glass painting, an old technique unique to Western Ukraine. Her masterful combination of age-old pictorial traditions with modern creative trends plus talent and an inherent bent for unexpected experimenting bring out striking artistic effects.

Breaking up the picture’s surface into countless irregular sections is one of her favorite techniques. The result is an image akin to a refined stained glass pattern. Her other discovery is the usage of both sides of the glass, so that the front and back are no longer an optical illusion or compositional conventionality. They do not superimpose each other and are perceived simultaneously, with the first image (the foreground) being actually closer to the viewer than the second (back) one. The distance between the two is the thickness of the glass, yet it is enough to produce a dioramic effect of sorts. The picture thus acquires a definite if insignificant third dimension. Finally, she willingly applies gold and silver, preferring a shimmering, snowy sparkling scattered background to the traditional evenly glowing one. Among her works are scenic theatrically philosophic mysteries such as Night-Day, yet most deal with religious topics. Natalia offers her own vision of the Annunciation and Christmas and contributes symbolic images such as Jesus, the Tree of Life. Most often she returns to the Virgin Mary, striving to achieve the utmost clarity while practicing a multiform approach as in Mary or Mary’s Prayer. Accordingly, her perception of modern realities is from the standpoint of Eternity as in Kyiv 2001 dedicated to the pontifical visit and filled with solemn quietude.