The order of nature. And lights: Igor Eugen Prokop
How do you describe the concept behind your paintings?
Human activities have disrupted the order of nature causing chaos in the relationship between man and nature. Changed conditions, global warming, melting, ocean water is warming and water levels are rising etc. With the visual expression of the philosophy and concept incorporated in my paintings, I would like to show the original order of nature, the changes, even the negative ones, together with a solution applied in a subjective way.
As nature lays the basic grounds for your concept, would you like to share a story about nature that has really affected your artworks?
It's a permanent story. From my childhood devotion to nature, through the world seen by the learned biologist, it’s an ongoing story of an earthling living together with nature, and it has innumerable details. From travelling around much of the earth, through the teaching of biology and art, countless micro-stories have shaped the current state of my journey and the way to Lao-tzu. All of these have strongly influenced the content, technique, solutions, forms and colors of my works and their imperative transfer to the public.
What feeling of nature you wish to communicate to the audience?
Experience, learning and knowledge significantly influence our relationship to nature. In order to develop a sense of nature, respecting nature, one has to come into real contact with nature and leave the forests, fields, mountains, oceans and rivers intact. And what you experience and get to know there, will evoke the feeling that every human being should know that he or she must actually feel part of nature. Which we mustn't abuse. We can only live together with it in symbiosis.
What medium do you use to create your art pieces?
To express my concepts, I use spots, lines, and colors as general image bases that are ubiquitous in nature. These are mostly manifested in my paintings and graphics. One of the directions of my research, exploration, and search path took me to express my concepts in the glass as a medium. For 25 years I have been practicing the fusing glass technique involving nature.
Igor Eugen Proko, Waterfront Life
Colors seems to play an important part in your paintings. What do you think?
Because all beings perceive light, plants and animals equally, light plays a huge and essential role in the evolution of life. Light contains all colors. So when I paint and depict nature, the living one, its relationships, and inner contents and dreams, colors always appear. Color is also a code of nature to indicate where it belongs, e.g. green chlorophyll in plants. These colors can be reconsidered, reinforced by my mind and, in various combinations, abstracted into a new world in my paintings.
What goes in your mind while painting?
Mostly I think in series. The world I see and sense, especially nature, is too complicated. Therefore, when elaborating a topic, I express my thoughts and feelings in several pictures and paintings, that’s the reason why I think in series. Therefore, the actual painting is preceded by a very long period of thinking and preparation. When I am painting, with great concentration I focus on the technical creation of the image and it is extremely demanding on my physical, mental and emotional state. During painting I discover a lot of new techniques, materials and solutions that take up my attention and time.
Igor Eugen Proko, Nature's Devil
How do you describe your journey of being an artist?
I think art is not just a profession, but a very deep, complex, continuous, overwhelmed state of mind and emotion that, for some, lasts a lifetime. The journey of the artist, my own journeys, beyond the accomplished paths, mean creating a whole new world as well.
Which is your most featured artwork and why?
Because I think in series, it is the latest one, entitled “ ENTROPY…….. “. It has two parts, both consisting of 14 pieces. This is how I respond to the current events in the world, effecting nature and society.
Igor Eugen Proko, Ascension
Have there been any philosophers or artists who have inspired you during your journey as an artist? Why?
I started with Aristotle when I was young. I loved his pure logical thoughts, and in Seneca the complexity of human relationships and freedom of thought caught me. It was through Marcus Aurelius's aphorism-like, short, concise, clear statements that I came to Lao-tzu's notions of path and virtue. In my present self, modern naturalists, Schrödinger, studying the universe, Dirack, the creator of chaos theory, and entropy scientists have left a very significant mark on me. Through these theories, practices, and discoveries, I have found in Jean Michel Basqiuat's work the sincere, childlike world that represents to him the connection between earthly dreams and the universe. These directions have left a mark in my paintings.