Universally, fire and water symbolise transformation and cleansing – they are agents of purity. In the ancient scripture of Hinduism, the Upanishad, however, they also represent spiritual growth – essential elements for the nourishment of the soul.
With his bold use of colours and dramatic brush strokes, artist Ovidiu Kloska invokes the divine in his paintings of spirit elements fire and water – part of his series on the five classical elements in art-ma’s collection.
To represent the spirit element fire, Kloska uses an amalgamation of three colours — a bloody red, a fiery orange and a warm yellow, which blend together seamlessly to represent the spirit’s journey through illumination, enlightenment, destruction and renewal.
The spirit element of water symbolizes fertility and healing, the motion of life. Kloska invokes this imagery through emphatic brush strokes of light and dark blue and white that swirl in front of the eyes, making the painting come to life.
The videos of both paintings have one thing in common – a symbolic white light at the centre. This was art-ma’s direction to the artist at the time of commissioning. The Bhagavad Gita, among other Hindu scriptures, states that the soul can never be destroyed by the five elements of fire, water, earth, air and space. The light shines through as a poignant reminder of our indestructible inner self.