Afterimage

Even the most attractive reality may be abandoned in favor of the most tenuous or improbable illusion. Eric Berne, What Do You Say After You Say Hello An afterimage is a phenomenon of human consciousness that creates and retains an image of an object the gaze had focused on even after the object itself has been removed. Afterimages occur most commonly after observing objects lit up by sunlight or blinding flares. From the physiological perspective, afterimages are a side effect of an eye adapting to bright light. And yet, these afterimages are highly individual and strongly affected by each person's psychological or emotional state.

An afterimage visualizes interactions between reality and illusion intertwined so closely as to become indistinguishable, despite glaring contradiction. The harmony between the material reality and the fantasy world is attained through personal experiences. Human perception makes the two phenomena manifest and equal, both visually tangible.

This controversial harmony and illusory realism combine the vibrant monochrome of Volokitin's paintings, the expressive sensuousness of Malinovska's works, Fedotova's progressive tonic video art, and Kulikovska's dynamic static statues.

Uliana Kurhanova, art scholar