Hexagram 20 1984

Oleksandr Aksinin made this print, Hexagram 20, in 1984, using a limited palette of red and cream. The density of marks creates a rich, almost tactile surface, reminding us that art is a process, a conversation between the artist and the material. The textures here are fantastic! The dragon's scales, each one meticulously rendered, contrast with the smooth, almost ghostly figure below. Notice the way the red ink pools and varies in tone, giving depth to the image. There's something magical about this image, it's like a dream. The figure, perhaps a guardian or a wanderer, stands beneath the dragon, broom in hand, in a world of symbols and meanings, echoed in the text at the base of the image. Aksinin’s work shares a sensibility with artists like Paul Klee, who also embraced symbolic imagery. Like Klee, Aksinin invites us to lose ourselves in the imaginative space, where meaning is always shifting, and the conversation never ends.