Altarpiece II
2023, Painting, Oil, Levkas, Canvas , Contemporary
This is a Digital Original of the artwork, digitized
using technology, and exists as a unique exemplar.
Each Digital Original is verified and secured through blockchain technology, providing full rights to exclusive digital ownership.
using technology, and exists as a unique exemplar.
Each Digital Original is verified and secured through blockchain technology, providing full rights to exclusive digital ownership.
This artwork is not available for sale at the moment, but you can submit a request to purchase it.
The recognizable markers of Krystyna Melnyk's work in her artistic practice are themes with a tendency towards the sacred and classical, as well as vulnerability and the depiction of pain in the narratives, which, despite the prevalence of the theme, remain a rather challenging task. However, Melnyk is capable of creating images that evoke true empathy and even a sense of kinship with the characters, in whom we more often observe a blurred subjectivity (for example, another of the artist's works titled “The Body That Wants to Be the Landscape”). The artist works with the issue of painful experience expressed through the body, while her creativity is characterized by a high level of artistic craftsmanship.
For several years now, Melnyk has been working with gesso ground. This medium is traditionally used in icon painting and allows for the creation of works over a long period, which thus becomes a companion and witness to life. At the same time, by depicting sacrifice, the artist herself must assume the position of the victim, dedicating a long period of her practice to its creation.
Krystyna worked on a large altarpiece, inspired by the Northern Renaissance era. The work "Altarpiece II" is part of a series of altars, composed of artworks that resemble mutilated elements of bodies, and the construction of the piece refers to a sacred and holy place. Drawing from the works of Matthias Grünewald, who was the first to depict the body of Christ as vulnerable, Melnyk seeks to highlight that the image of the body, for the artist, is both the soul and, in other words, the depiction of the spirit. Therefore, she approaches her works as icons.
On the other hand, the affected areas and parts of bodies visually resemble elements of the landscape, which, in the context of the ongoing war, inevitably lead the viewer to reflect on the destruction of the environment — whether it be natural territory or the human body. However, what is seen is not repulsive — the artist confesses that she empathizes with the images depicted in her works.
- Format Digital Original Standard
- Resolution 400 MPX
- Color depth
48 bit
281 Trillion Colors Original file size
1385 MB DNG File
- Country Ukraine
- Years 2023
- Styles
- Medium
- Physical canvas 60cm x 47cm
- Framing No framed
Krystyna Melnyk
Krystyna Melnyk is a Ukrainian artist, who works with concepts such as the classical and the sacred through imagery. Her creative method is an attempt to find an approach to experiencing the sacred.
Summary of Krystyna Melnyk
Melnyk's art explores the dual power of images, aiming to convey the sensation of the sacred through the concept of the suffering body. She perceives her works as icons, incorporating levkas, a traditional material for icon painting.
Biography of Krystyna Melnyk
The artist was born in Melitopol, Ukraine, in 1993. Her early foundational training in the arts took place at the Melitopol High College of Culture (2010-2014) and continued at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture (2014-2018). She also attended the Contemporary Art Course at the Kyiv Academy of Media Arts.
In 2019, she completed a course on video art at Viktor Marushchenko's School of Photography, curated by Alina Kleytman. In 2022, she was nominated for the Pinchuk Art Prize.
Krystyna Melnyk's paintings have been featured in numerous exhibitions, including those at Kyiv Acadamy of Media Arts, The Naked Room Gallery, and Voloshyn Gallery, among other venues.
Krystyna Melnyk's Famous Paintings: Exploring the Sacred
The artist has created a substantial body of work, with titles that incorporate sacred terminology, such as "Altarpiece". These titles follow a sequence of Roman numerals and are part of a larger project the artist has been developing recently—a grand altar.
Krystyna Melnyk's original paintings include "Altarpiece I" (2023), "Altarpiece II" (2023), "The Bones That Will Become Garden" (2023), "Hidden" (2022), and many more. Krystyna Melnyk's paintings for sale are available at the auction on the UFDA website.
Krystyna Melnyk's Art Style
Inspired and influenced by Georges Bataille and particularly his text "Histoire de l'œil", the artist seeks to convey a sense of the sacred through the idea of the suffering body, as described by the philosopher. Melnyk engages with the world of sacred feelings not only metaphysically: the artist incorporates levkas and oil into her works. Traditionally used in iconography, these materials provide greater durability to the pieces, which often require extended periods to create.
Since the onset of the full-scale invasion, Krystyna increasingly identifies herself as an iconographer rather than an artist. Even her early works were tied to reflections on the perception of war's past. In those pieces, the artist contemplated why World War II occurred. At the time, it was difficult to imagine such events repeating. Now, Krystyna's body of work appears prophetic.
- Resolution
- 400 MPX
- Dimensions
- 23296x17472
- Medium
- DNG
- Device
- FUJIFILM
- Device model
- GFX100S
- Lense
- FUJIFILM
- Lense model
- GF120mmF4 R LM OIS WR Macro
- Color space
- Uncalibrated
- Color profile description
- 48 bit color depth, 281 Trillion Colors
- Metering mode
- Multi-segment
- F number
- 11
- Exposure program
- Manual
- Exposure time
- 0.5
- Focal length
- 120.0 mm
- Photographer
- Digital Original Studio
