Yuma Radne

"Being influenced by my dreams, I paint surrealist scenes where everything exists at the intersection between real and fantastical. There are fluid objects and animals - they remind of something real, but they don’t exist in the reality - like in an...

"Being influenced by my dreams, I paint surrealist scenes where everything exists at the intersection between real and fantastical. There are fluid objects and animals - they remind of something real, but they don’t exist in the reality - like in an absurd dream. Inspired by theatrical scenes, my paintings have an element of play to them. They embrace a feeling between almost a hysterical laughter and a focused calmness. Colour plays an important role in my imagery. Being influenced by the indigenous buryat culture I grew up in, I use a lot of greens and blues in my work, as the Mongolian saying goes “blue mongol people, eternal blue sky”. Through sensitive and poetic figurative paintings, I celebrate the ancient traditions and practices, though not depicting them directly. The paintings are both vulnerable and empowered, deploying a personal symbolic lexicon to offer glimpses into an often- overlooked cultural experience and national identity. I use a lot of layers, starting with the brightest colours, letting sometimes the first layers shine through. The characters in my work re-appear, as they exist in the same world. My practice is a universe-building, and my scenarios are like legends, that were never told."