IMAGES OF BIRDS IN THE TAPESTRIES OF ESPHIRA SERPIONOVA: SYMBOLISM, SEMANTICS, STYLISTICS

Abstract

An art history study of the creative work of the outstanding Odessa master of artistic weaving, Esfir Serpionova, has been carried out. Among the wide range of images in her tapestries, attention is focused on images of birds.Their symbolic and mythopoetic content has been analyzed in detail and interpreted. The technological features of the artist's weaving have been identified. A comparative analysis has been presented and the specifics of the recognizable stylistic language of E. Serpionova's works have been revealed. A study of E. Serpionova's artistic weaving works revealed a significant number of bird images in compositions from different years. The images were systematized according to their iconography and content. A group of tapestries was identified where birds are depicted alongside humans; in particular, in the compositions we analyzed, the author herself is the character. Birds become an allegory of fate, the pursuit of dreams, happiness, and trials in different spaces, as well as a symbol of the artist's soul, thirsty for knowledge of beauty in the real and spiritual world. A number of works featuring birds are united by the image of a tree. Serpionova refers to the archetype of the Tree of Life, which personifies an established model of the world around which time moves, shown through the motifs of the seasons or times of day, as well as the contrasts of life – black and white – day, night, peace, war.Conventionally interpreted birds are present as allegories of people in the whirlpool of life. Of particular interest are tapestries where there are no bird figures, but their attributes are present, such as birdhouses or feathers.Thanks to these associative images, the author embodies the ideas of hope, patriotism, preservation of memory, and transmission of knowledge and tradition. A whole group consists of chamber compositions depicting various birds that inhabit different corners of the earth and are an integral part of it. The pure color that conveys light, creates a symbolic context or emotion of perception plays a significant role in the expressiveness of Serpionova's tapestries.An analysis of the stylistics of Serpionova's unique language of artistic weaving revealed the great importance of the conventionality of theatrical and decorative art, the lightness of stained glass and mosaics, the simplification of folk art images, experiments with abstract forms of modernism, monumental decorative paintings of the Baroque and austere styles, and traditional decorative and applied weaving of southern Ukraine.