'On the Shore,' by Erekle Chinchilakashvili, Oil on Masonite Painting

This 20" x 23" oil on masonite painting by Georgian artist Erekle Chinchilakashvili depicts two blue trees near a brown pathway leading to the coastal shore in a surrealist style. Chinchilakashvili uses a rich palette of blues and greens with thick paint application to create this dynamic scene.

"My primary sources came from various public domain archives or other collections. I spend a lot of time searching through pictures about events that somehow spark interest in my consciousness. I am fascinated by the concept of the archive itself. It seems that archives are the raw material for creating historical narratives, non-linear sources, which are scattered around with no particular order.

Every morning once I start the day, I start intaking visual information from my cell phone and laptop, then I go out to the street. Images, images, images, an endless number of images every day. And I don't really get to choose the alternative of not seeing. There is no choice like that. So we experience a loss of meaning. When transmitted to painting, the parts of initial photos transform themselves into a new existence. So it is an act of transformation, an act of change and motion."-- Erekle Chinchilakashvili

Erekle Chinchilakashvili is an emerging Georgian artist currently based in Budapest, where he is working on his PhD in Fine Arts. Erekle is especially passionate about understanding the subconscious side of human nature and using his art as he tries to discover the secrets that lie behind the curtains of everyday life. Growing up in an artist’s family, Erekle has been painting since early childhood. Later he also got interested in History & Theory of Art. Ever since then, he has been trying to analyze the relationship between painting and literature. His main inspiration is to paint surfaces that would act as portals, leading into the meditative world of spirituality. Erekle usually works in oil and acrylic paints, but since he is especially passionate about the freedom in choosing techniques, he often combines traditional methods with various inventive and experimental ways. Apart from painting, he also works in the genre of collage and sculpture. Erekle pays a lot of attention to what has been created before and his main influences come from Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, Nicolas de Stael and ancient Georgian wall paintings.