RUSUDAN KHIZANISHVILI: NEW STAR RISING
While Rusudan Khizanishvili was a young arts student at the Tbilisi Academy of the Arts, they had no heating, gas, electricity or water. Candles were used for everything.
In 1921, Georgia was annexed by the Soviet Union, and stayed that way until 1991. The Soviet Union had been in shambles for over a decade and so Georgia suffered as well.
During this time Khizanishvili was also a mother, but she still managed to paint up to six hours a day. With the darkness she experienced both literally and figuratively, one might expect her work to be bleak. But, they are not at all. Most of her work is quite colourful and draws from many traditions, including of course Georgian culture.
In a NEW STAR RISING, it is a riff on a traditional madonna and child. It is a testament to motherhood -- which she cherishes--but describes as "not the idealized, off-limits, vaulted kind. Instead it's the kind of motherhood that's fabulous, but not without its difficult moments."
The full interview with the artist is included in the Kinstler 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle now available in the shop.
