At the start of his landscape painting career, Anton Pavlenko explored the West with an easel in tow, trying to faithfully capture its likeness. Today, he is less inclined toward accuracy and leans more into his artist license, focusing not solely on what the land looks like but how he is in conversation with it.
Silence on the Horizon, oil on canvas, 60 x 84 in.
That evolution is at the heart of his upcoming exhibition Changing Horizons at Mockingbird Gallery in Bend, Oregon. Opening in August, the show will present viewers with the opportunity to take in how familiar landscapes can change or be destroyed, but also how the destruction can usher in new life. Each painting in the show is a glimpse into the personal, internal landscapes of the artist.
“When the sun sets, and darkness is about to envelop the landscape, it leaves you with something beautiful—golden hour, and a few of these pieces really kind of emulate that,” says Pavlenko. “The changing horizon that we see outdoors in front of ourselves every single day, every single year, is a reflection of our inner horizons, and those things that we stream toward.”
How Pavlenko sees and interprets the landscape has evolved since he began painting. Today, he looks to mountain peaks, quiet meadows and roaring rivers for inspiration and describes the landscapes he observes and paints as mirrors that reflect how he feels and who he is at a moment in time.
Before the Light Fades, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in.
“Painting becomes this tool for self-expression,” says Pavlenko. “Now, I’m not a really faithful painter. You may be able to identify certain peaks and valleys belonging to a specific place, but I use it as loose inspiration, because I want to create something from within me…and it just so happens to look like the Tetons or Glacier National Park, because I happened to be there.”
Born in Ukraine, Pavlenko and his family immigrated to the United States when he was young. Growing up in between cultures, he relates his early experiences of moving to and living in the American West to walking through the hall of an adopted home. In his art, he explores his sense of belonging and how it is tied to the land.
“I like the old tales of the West, and the great stories of people with their families moving west, because in some ways, it felt like what I was doing when I was a child and experienced,” says Pavlenko. “I found that the [West] holds a new and different meaning for individuals, especially like myself, it’s a good springboard and mirror into what it means for me to settle into a new place internally.”
The Wakeup Call, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 in.
A part of belonging to place, is realizing how you’ve changed and grown there throughout the years. When Pavlenko revisits old trees or a forest’s edge, he’s not just noticing what’s changed in the landscape since the last time he was there, but what’s changed within him as well.
“I try to embody that in my work, and the West can mean different things for different people, but it has taken this internal introspective lens into my own life and my individuality, and I’m happy to share it with anyone who wants to hear or see it.”
Changing Horizons opens Friday, August 7, with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m., and runs through the end of the month at Mockingbird Gallery in Bend, Oregon. —
Mockingbird Gallery 869 NW Wall Street, Suite 100 » Bend, OR 97703 » (541) 388-2107 » www.mockingbird-gallery.com
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