Secret III 1997

Oleh Denysenko made this drawing, Secret III, with ink on paper. It’s a tightly rendered composition, mostly black and white. Look at those three figures sitting at a table, each adorned with their own peculiar headgear and elaborate beards. I can only imagine Denysenko hunched over the surface, crafting this meticulous world. The details are so precise, so intricate. Look at the wings on the figures to the left and right. Or the bird in the cage hovering above them, the tiny inscriptions, the lines and the symbols… It's like he's coding a secret language. Each mark seems deliberate, part of a personal iconography. It’s fascinating how he balances the density of detail with the overall composition. He leaves enough space for the image to breathe. I'm reminded of other visionary artists, people like William Blake or even Hilma af Klint, who created their own symbolic worlds. In art, there are secrets and there are always conversations happening across time. Artists are constantly responding to one another, borrowing, riffing, and pushing the boundaries of what art can be.