Vladimir Sokolov -Viconart

Sacred Art, Awakening Life

“The way to awake into life is not to be afraid of life, and to recognize that all of reality, as it exists, is a manifestation of the power of creation”. - Joseph Campbell

Art is a sacred language. It has its grammar, rules, beauty and its purpose. Being able to speak this language is still a privilege of chosen, or rather of those, who has chosen to communicate in this way. The origins of art is pure magic, the mystic ritual, the prayer and illumination. Art can be viewed as a language previously used exclusively for communicating with divine powers: gods, spirits, etc., and later it was “vulgarized” - given to ignorant. As any other “vulgarized” language it evolves with time, always becoming more adapt to serve simple needs of ordinary people. Today the art may be considered a “dead” language, which is commonly misused by any given adapt, but maybe it is the only reason why art is still alive. Art, like life itself, is a constant change, and despite ever-growing mediocrity, some of us still interpret life into art and write poetry in this forgotten language of visual interpretation.

Making art is a lot like making love, or a meditation, and the moment you start thinking - is the moment when you loose the connection. Like love, art is a lot of concentrated attention without logics involved. Even though I developed my style as an artist, I do not clench to one style in art, and let it grow and change with me.

Art is a manifestation of the inner world. Art is a constant research. I am inspired by the art that states/reinforces life itself: humor, sexuality, movement, change, philosophy, mythology, joy. My art does not manifest my artistic skills (how well you can draw is secondary, in my opinion), but rather demonstrate my thoughts, the research of a form and contrast, the story behind an image. Surely, I strive to develop and progress visual aspects of my art, but the skill/craftsmanship has always been, let’s say, of a lower priority, yielding to the magic of this process in general. The questions that I ask myself in life and in art are NOT “who?”, “when?”, “where?”, "how?" or “how much?”, but I am always curious to know “what?” and “why?” - and of course it is manifested within my creations.

In every work I manifest and celebrate the Individual believe, the inner faith in oneself, capable of changing the world – the inner world of oneself.