Description
‘Exiles from Eden’ by Evgola
Artist: Evgola
Title: ‘Exiles from Eden’
Medium: Acrylic, coloured pencils, and gold leaf on wood panel
Dimensions: 24″ x 18″ x 1″
Framing: Unframed
Year of Creation: 2022
About the Artwork:
‘Exiles from Eden’ is part of the Tarot series and represents ‘The Lovers’ Card of Major Arcana. This card symbolizes love, harmony, relationships, values alignment, also choices and their consequences.
The Lovers card is well-rooted in the concepts of connection and choice. At the intersection of these meanings, you will find harmony. The Lovers encourages us to bring together two forces, often in opposition; otherwise, we must let one go. Accept what can and cannot be reconciled in your life, and place importance in what will bring contentment.
Cupid’s figure is to represent the willpower behind the inevitable choice.
Figures below (and there are more than two) represent an ultimatum between two choices; here is a crossroads, and you can only go down one path.
About the Artist:
(Artist Bio)
I was born in what was USSR back then in a Russian-Ukrainian family. Having witnessed Perestroika, political ideology break down and all the hardship that came with it definitely had an impact on my identity. Since I was a little kid it was pretty clear that drawing, painting, and creating something with my own hands were my favorite activities of all. I guess it was my way of escaping reality in a magical safety bubble, and that’s why fantasy and surrealism became the language of self-expression for me. I graduated from Art School at the age of 17, and having studied at the Far Eastern State Technical University in Vladivostok, graduated and earned a degree in Design and Architecture. While I was still a student I got an opportunity to be selected as part of the creative team for Pacific Rim Park project that took place in China in 2001. We, as an international group under the guidance of James Hubbell and San Diego based Ilan-Lael foundation, were designing and building a theme park on the coast of Pacific ocean. This project has changed my life forever. As a result, eventually, I moved to this beautiful city San Diego, that I call home ever since. To be honest, it took me some years to figure out what my artistic path is, and that involved having “real” day jobs in design, architecture, and advertising fields. But nothing made me as content as when I was creating art on my free of office time. So after a while, I’ve collected the courage to start showing my paintings and drawings to the public on social media and in local galleries, and museums. To my surprise career as an artist took off very quickly, and I’ve been a full-time independent creator (fine arts painter, illustrator, muralist, body painter, educator) since 2015.
It’s hard to put a certain label on what I do creatively and define my style, but if I had to give it a name that would be Neo-Renaissance.
I owe an artistic gene to my father, who was an architect, but I thank my mom, who is a librarian, for surrounding me with amazing books of well-illustrated fairytales and art history compilations since my childhood. Because of that I found my inspiration and formed my style early through studying European Renaissance, Orthodox icons, Slavic folklore, Western esotericism, world’s ancient myths. And of course, living in a modern culture has it’s effect on everything I do. As a result, my art entwines classic realistic sensibility within a contemporary setting. I am a multi-media creator, but my work always joins real-world portraiture with imaginative and often surreal narratives to highlight and reveal my subject’s essence.
I’ve been working notably with The Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA), Museum Of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), New Americans Museum (NAM).
My art has been exhibited in various Galleries within the USA and Europe, as well as been published and commissioned by private collectors internationally.