ARTisSpectrum Vol.35, May 2016

99 ARTisSpectrum | Volume 35 | artisspectrum.com I n her paintings, Nadiejda Charova Tscheltzoff creates a complex, physically compelling universe from the stuff of dreams. “The inner world is to my mind a subtle reality as much as essential truth,” she says, and her work gives that subtle reality a depth and presence that powerfully draws the viewer in. Working in oils on canvas, the artist makes images that are elegantly simple, but that simplicity generates an enigmatic power. A single tree in an open field, or even a pattern of almost pure color, achieves a striking level of drama, existing as a kind of conversation between the artist’s thoughts and the world she observes. As a teenager, Charova Tscheltzoff was drawn to fashion, and the focus on color, texture, silhouette and design that are so central to that field carry over into her paintings. Whether she is capturing an intricate pattern of branches or the soft juxtaposition of colors in a dreamy sky, she shows a strong feel for detail and structure as well as a sensitivity for the ways in which patterns and textures can set off emotional vibrations and resonances. The paintings that result from this process have a multi-leveled ambience—one with a moody, otherworldly tone that evokes myths and fairy tales while also communicating a precise sense of style and composition. But it is the underlying freedom and spontaneity of her paintings that is perhaps their central characteristic. “The creative process is a dive,” she says. “I’m extremely surprised by the creative process. I let myself be overwhelmed by it.” It is that constant level of surprise and discovery that is the driving force behind her work, expressed in her bold color choices and in the uncanny way in which she lends her dreamy, impressionistic world a powerful, vivid presence. www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Nadiejda_ Charova_Tscheltzoff.aspx Nadiejda Charova Tscheltzoff Reve Blue Oil on Canvas 31.5” x 39.5” Rêve Rouge (Dream in Red) Oil on Canvas 27.5” x 39.5”