Alchemicus Redolent 2016

Stepan Ryabchenko's "Alchemicus Redolent," at the Odesa Museum, isn't made with brushes and paint but born from digital code. It’s got this ethereal color palette, like something out of a dream, with shapes that remind me of blown glass, or maybe some kind of futuristic, organic machine. I can imagine Ryabchenko at his computer, coaxing these forms into being, tweaking and adjusting, letting the algorithm do its thing but guiding it with his own artistic vision. There’s a sense of play here, of experimentation. The surface has this smooth, almost liquid quality, which feels so different from the rough texture of traditional painting. It's kind of like he's asking, "What does painting even mean in a digital age?" Does it matter if it's not oil on canvas? I don’t think so. It fits right into this conversation artists have been having for centuries, pushing boundaries, trying new things, and showing us new ways of seeing.