Visual Interiority with Aleksandr Biruk

Aleksandr Biruk knows no boundaries when it comes to his work. Experimental and very open-minded, he pushes common conceptions of contemporary art into different creative outlets like music, spirituality, psychology, relationships, poetry, and sexuality. Biruk is primarily a painter who works in acrylic on canvas, creating pastel-like scenes that are almost lyrical in nature. From grabbing the brush, Biruk underscores how essential it is to showcase the connection between the psyche and the body.

Based in Tbilisi, Georgia, he recently attended St. Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design in the  monumental painting department. During and after which he has done countless of exhibitions. His most recent one took place in 2023 at the De Twee Pauwen (The Hague, Netherlands). This groundbreaking, introspective artist also received the 2024 Stipend “Gaude Polonia”, from the National Centre for Culture Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Poland. 

ARTRUNNER is pleased to present a coversation with Aleksandr Biruk.

How would you describe your work to a lay person?

In general, I practice such a body-psychological approach to art, so to some extent it can be perceived without training, just reacting on a “like-dislike” level. This is the basic level of bodily reaction that is important to me. Often, in order for this reaction to take place, you have to give up trying to analyse the painting and its symbolism [at] the very beginning.  Another important point is that painting—even figurative painting—is abstract, at its core. It is always some spots and strokes on the plane in which we only recognize some objects from the real world. But it is still lines, points, color and tonal accents. That’s where all the music is. After all, the music that musicians write is also pure abstraction, but few people need explanations just to react emotionally to it. That’s the musical reaction I want to evoke with my works. In this sense I see myself as a composer composing musical (visual) symphonies. In spite of the fact that the lion’s share of meanings is already laid down at the level of abstraction—in my paintings there are also figures—and if we continue the analogy with music, they are “words” applied to the musical basis. In this sense, my paintings are songs.

An important element of my paintings is “ceremonialism”, “ritualism”. For myself, I interpret it more as a “game of ritual”—something childish, without a final understanding of meaning and purpose. It is some long-standing human ability and trait to turn ordinary things of the banal everyday world into sacred artefacts; solemn and meaningful. This thing is somewhat complex and in some manifestations can be dangerous. My stories do not construct any real world, or any idea of how it should be. The characters are outside of time and space—and it’s all about a sense of nature, a connection to nature and its energies, strong and unarticulated. In my paintings, I explore themes of psychology, relationships, inner conflicts, awakening sexuality, childhood fears, and the search for inner peace. Finally the “presence effect” is an important aspect of my work. Imagine the atmosphere shift between a room with a portrait of Stalin and a Soviet table, and the same room with a blossoming tree and a portrait of a loved one. This shift in ambiance is what I aim to create, cultivating specific environments with my paintings. In essence, my work should be experienced like poetry or music—respond to it emotionally, and if that connection is made, there’s room for deeper meditation and reflection. 

What type of artwork (or other kinds of media) were you interested in when you started working as an artist?

[There] was a very broad interest in all creativity, but the main passion was experimentation, in general. I was mesmerised by the process of playing with things and discovering their new properties, not visible at first. For example, I invented some games and labyrinths using the system of links in PowerPoint presentations. Playing with old boxes, I figured out how to make a code lock using the gaps in the cardboard glued in several layers. This interest in experimentation channelled into everything from Lego, to drawing cartoons, to playing with the projections that a magnifying glass provides. Although I studied piano for eight years, my real joy came from inventing my own music, no matter how primitive, rather than playing existing pieces. The greatest pleasure was always the process of discovering new phenomena for myself.

When and where did your creative journey begin?

In relation to painting, I think it happened in the last year of art school, when I stopped trying to understand how “it should be” and how “it’s right” and focused on what I felt and what I liked. I didn’t just start listening to my feelings – I always heard them -but I analysed them, verbalised them, said “I like this and this, such and such textures, such and such colors, and such forms.” Then, I painted a portrait in which I consciously collected all the things that I personally had emotions about. I still cherish that portrait to this day. It seems that at that moment I caught some personal approach and I can consider it the beginning of my creative path. Even though I had already been painting for many years. 

How have you changed since you have started?

I think the path of an artist is a great inner work with his psyche, with his conflicts, with endless crises.  And this “creativity” has to be carried and protected through the years. In general, all this struggle and uncertainty has made me more disciplined and focused. After all, it takes a lot of energy to create art, and if we talk about me, almost all of my energy. To some extent, the passion for experimenting and trying things for the first time has been suppressed in favor of delving into one thing. Because I am sure that only if you concentrate on one thing for a very long time, search and work on it, you can discover something really interesting and your own—get rid of the random and discover the individual.

What are your upcoming projects? 

Over the previous months I have been working on a painting cycle inspired by the music of the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, his sonorous period. The themes he raised seem very relevant to me at the moment. The project turned out to be completely abstract, and I am currently looking for a venue for its presentation. The project was supported by the scholarship program of the Polish Ministry of Culture “Gaude Polonia.”

How does this body of work fit into the larger framework of your career?

It is an abstract series and of a rather somber mood, which seems to break from the general line of my work. However, conceptually, I think it reflects the overall essence of my practice. I don’t intend to stay fixed in one style forever. I want to discover new facets. I think that gradually everything that was discovered while working on this series will enrich my main work. 

How do you see yourself evolving in your practice?

More freedom, more harmony, and more grasping and reaching into three-dimensional space. I also want to bring back and somehow incorporate the passion for experimentation into my current practice. I don’t know what that might look like yet, but the motivation is there.

What are seven things you must have while working in the studio?

1. A4 office paper
2. Gel black pen (with sketches and a pen on paper that is easy to take from a large stack, always begins any of my projects, both painting series and architectural paintings)
3. Coffee
4. Candies
5. Drawing tablet and computer (this is where I think through sketches and put them into a three-dimensional mode)
6. Canvas
7. Paints