Enter the Mary Martin Gallery and you will undoubtedly fall under a spell! On exhibit for the month will be “L’Enchantee” (classical French greeting meaning enchanted, under a spell, charmed, and delighted). L’Enchantee features the works of Oksana Gruszka.
Fashion and beauty, Gruszka’s subject matter, are used along with wild animals as elements of surprise in order to capture the viewer’s fascination and understanding of Oksana’s philosophy. “People with all their courage, strength and power should stay humane and remember their role with Nature”, says Gruszka.
Ukrainian born Gruszka’s artistic journey began at the age of two when she was given pencils to pass the time during a long bed-confining hospitalization. Being recognized for her drawing ability, art was the focus of her formal education starting in high school when Oksana was admitted to the premier Art School of the Ukraine and culminating with a degree in Architecture from the. Kharkov Institute of Municipal Engineering.
Oksana grew up at a time when the Ukraine was isolated from the outside world and her world was gray, dull, and uniform. One look at an Italian issue of Vogue magazine and the world changed for Okasna. Fashion magazines became her window to “a wonderful and beautiful world” in the West.
After a successful fifteen-year career working as an architect both in the Ukraine and the U.S., Gruszka now unites both her passion for beauty and fashion as well as art as she concentrates on painting.
Oksana views her art as a tool to remind us of the beauty found in nature and our responsibility to the environment. “A sky without birds is an empty sky, a sea without fish is a dead sea and the land without the animals is a barren Earth,” states Gruszka.
She believes that urban architecture should work in harmony with nature, not against it. Oksana’s artwork symbolizes the continuity of people with nature. This strong connection is maintained through the pairing in her paintings of wild animals, landscapes and flowers with humans. All of the subjects are in balance and living in harmony.
No matter what the medium, Oksana always focuses on the fine details, a habit from her training as an architect. Oil paintings are rendered using the seven-layer technique of the Flemish masters. Works can often take up to a year to create; having to wait a month for layers to dry, This Flemish technique allows for the creation of realistic three-dimensional paintings.
