The Spiritellectual Art

of

Alisa Poplavskaya

Selected paintings 2008-2013

Alisas Art helped me to understand what Bob Dylan meant with "Whatever colors you have in your mind, Ill show them to you and youll see them shine". Her style is spiritellectual, the message of artworks is inspiring and the energy makes you feel life. - Martin Schubert, Author -

of

Alisa Poplavskaya

My artistic roots inspired by my fascination with symbols and texts and are developing and transforming into an inner passion for a greater spiritual reality that exists in my mind and soul. I believe in the value of peace, service to mankind, and intercultural dialogue. I am inspired by religious and spiritual texts such as the Old Testament, the Talmudic Midrashim, the Kabbalistic Book of Zohar, the New Testament, the Bahai writings as well as philosophical texts, and of course, the people, that I have had the privilege to get to know on this path of finding mutual meaning across different spiritual cultures. As a person who was born in an interfaith family, I can call myself a believer and seeker of truth and freedom. As an artist and sociologist I believe in art and the social changes that can be inspired by it. It can influence society, hardened minds, teach lessons and point in the direction of good deeds to humanity. I believe in nobility of humanity, and that we were created to create, till the earth and multiply, not to discriminate and wage war. When we become open-minded and try to deal with the difficulties that may than occur the world can become a more tolerant and peaceful place to live in. I believe that art inspires people to make those changes. "The individual human being is like a wave on an ocean. From the surface each wave appears unique, independent, and transient. Yet beneath the surface all waves are one, interdependent, and eternal. From the perspective of the surface, each wave is born, runs its course, and dies. From the deeper perspective of the ocean there is no birth, no separate life, no death." Rabbi M. Shapiro Open Secrets Alisa Poplavskaya Private collections in Sweden, Germany, Israel, Austria, Ukraine and USA. Solo and group exhibitions in Vienna, Stockholm, Jerusalem, Bratislava, New-York.

Acknowledgment I would like to express my deepest and most heartfelt gratitude to the ROI Community created by Lynn Schusterman. From all my heart I am grateful to Paideia European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden, particularly to Barbara Spectre and Frida Shatz for my artistic beginning which has started in 2008 and was supported by those incredible and fantastic women. I was born in Ukraine and for the last 12 years I have lived in Israel, USA, Sweden, Austria and Slovakia. I am a happy person, I am coming from loving and caring family and everywhere I go, I meet wonderful people these connections turn into strong friendships. These people I meet become inspiration for me, these people who became my friends make my life colorful and full of love. Mind by Mind, Soul by Soul is what I would call the feeling that no matter how many kilometers are in between us in the physical sense, we can hold the dear ones in our heart... I would like to thank my family, my beloved one and all my dear friends who are changing my life towards the light. Alisa Poplavskaya

Prayer
Acrylic on Canvas, 20x40 cm, Jerusalem, 2012

No limits
Acrylic on Canvas, 70x70 cm, Bratislava, 2011

Connections
Acrylic on Canvas, 7085 cm, Bratislava, 2012 The different colours on the hair and the fingers represent different cultural and religious backgrounds. The colour is a dress, not the substance. This artwork was created to bring up the importance of Unity among people and our connection with the HIGHEST.

The Seven Days of Creation in or in the Seven Days of Creation?

Acrylic on Canvas, 80x80 cm, Bratislava, 2012 This painting is based on the concept of the worlds creation from the Book of Genesis and the Kabbalistic concept of ( life, living, alive). The combination of these two concepts in the painting represents life, as a state of being alive, in any possible intellectual and emotional understanding. In the painting there are day and night, water above and water below, an earth with plants and fruitbearing trees, a division between light and darkness, the planets and stars, living creatures and human beings. The romantic story and the concept of love in our understanding enter on the sixth day. From this moment on the Hebrew Bible is not following the story of the stars in detail anymore, but follows conscious life on earth and the relations between the human beings of different genders: the beginning of the romantic story and a relationship. The question Seven days of creation in or in seven days of creation? points at mysticism and realism, not judging between theoretical life (in scripture) and the kaleidoscope of the colours in our soul. Time started before humanity, but humanity is the only entity to recognize it. Based on this you find the seven days of creation inside and outside the big . The mystical background are the five worlds and the five levels of soul, where the is the fifth element.

Pomegranate of Commandments
Acrylic on Canvas, 90x80 cm, Stockholm, 2008 In the painting Pomegranate of Commandments the pomegranate seeds appear to the observer as Hebrew letters, hinting at the notion of the holiness of language, similar to the idea that James Joyce had for his Ulysses, language is the martial art of our human spiritual eyes. This is one aspect. Based on Jewish mystical scripture a pomegranate is the symbol of the 613 commandments in the Torah. There are two different kinds of commandments: The DOs and the DONTs that scripture can reflect back from the reality it stems from, be it real or a legend. The same division is also to be found in the Ten Commandments, where five commandments present the relationship between God and humans and the other five represent the relationships among people, which can be understood both in a religious or a Kantian way. These relationships are presented by the different branches and roots, which are either growing up or pointing down. The branches which are growing up symbolize our connection to our HIGHEST, and the branches which are growing down symbolize the relationships between people. The path inside the pomegranate begins with dark colours and at the end it becomes golden: this symbolizes the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to the land of milk and honey. In the colours of milk and honey the observer finds similarities to a map of the biblical lands. Focus on the second glimpse...

613 commandments, 613 seeds

Acrylic on Canvas, 50x65 cm, Vienna, 2011 According to a Midrash (story, study, interpretation) a pomegranate has 613 seeds, symbolically corresponding to a personal resolution (such as a religious/spiritual lifestyle). Pomegranates are used in many cultures and teachings as symbols i.e desire and redemption.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Twelve Tribes, Three Fathers
Acrylic on Canvas, 50x50 cm, Stockholm, 2009 The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is one of the two magical trees in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2-4). The twelve roots represent the twelve tribes of the biblical Israelites. Three branches can be seen as three fathers in life (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). The fruits of the tree represent the fruitful knowledge, the heads of the two fish represent good and evil, and they are looking in different directions, but the HIGHEST observes all dimensions of our deeds and fruits of knowledge.

The Ark of the Covenant

Acrylic on Canvas, 50x50 cm, Stockholm, 2008 The Ark of the Covenant based on the Book of Exodus (Ex 25:10-22) with its Cherubim (angels) and the Shechina (the Holy Spirit dwelling in/around the tabernacle). According to a Midrash (story, study, interpretation), the wings of the Cherubim were in a state of movement, opening and closing. Turning statues of gold are turned into living creatures through the Shechina.

The Three Parts

Acrylic on Canvas, 70x90 cm, Bratislava, 2012 The three parts here represent the abstract visualizations of birth, the life cycle and unity vs. Platos theory about three parts of the soul: the appetitive, the rational, and the spirited.

Freedom of Soul!?
Acrylic on Canvas, 80x100 cm, Bratislava, 2011 The painting visually is divided into two parts: the life cycle of our physical world and the raise in/to the spiritual one.

Light of the Soul

Acrylic on Canvas, 50x65 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Blooming feeling
Acrylic on Canvas, 60x60 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Chaos of thoughts
Acrylic on Canvas, 30x80 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Harmony of feelings
Acrylic on Canvas, 40x60 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Growth
Acrylic on Canvas, 40x80 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Harmony vibes
Acrylic on Canvas, 50x50 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Jacobs dream
Acrylic on Canvas, 50x30 cm, Vienna, 2010

The Tree
Acrylic on Canvas, 30x60 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Roles
Acrylic on Canvas, 70x85 cm, Vienna, 2011

Passion Tree
Acrylic on Canvas, 40x40 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Rise
Acrylic on Canvas, 40x40 cm, Bratislava, 2012

From the water & earth Up!

Acrylic on Canvas, 40x80 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Free direction
Acrylic on Canvas, 30x70 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Unity
Acrylic on Canvas, 60x60 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Free
Acrylic on Canvas, 50x70 cm, Bratislava, 12.12.2012

Flower of the life cycle

Acrylic on Canvas, 60x70 cm, Bratislava, 2012

Thank you to all and each of those who have helped with this project: Martin Schubert, Sharon Marnell, Alexander Leibin, Veronika Leibin, Katka Kralikova, Gabor Cseh, Volker Maisel, Radomir Markovic, Beata Musilova, Vera Manakhimova, Tamar Phillips.

Layout - Gabor Cseh Photo - Beata Musilov Logo - Radomir Markovic Creative support - Martin Schubert

 Alisa

Poplavskaya 2013

www.alisapoplavskaya.com alisa.poplavskaya@gmail.com