Originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, Dimitrina Kutriansky is a full-time artist living in Illinois after obtaining her Bachelor of Arts in fine art from Southern Illinois University and a Master of Arts (and education) from the University of Iowa.
Dimitrina excels at creating organic, human-like images of roots and trees, which she claims are symbolically meant to express the helpless, sometimes meaningless and always powerful entanglement of human relationships.
“This is especially true among family, where the intensity of emotions becomes a force in and of itself,” Dimitrina says. “My works possess a rehabilitative capacity, as neither their loneliness nor pretense can hurt and destroy one’s vitality for living.”
In Approaching Darkness, the light of a sinking sun trickles down the stream atop the water, setting aglow foliage along the bank. Trees stretch their silvery, twisted branches toward the sky in a last ditch effort to collect any remaining warmth before the cool evening breeze settles in.
It’s eerily quiet and still in the last remaining minutes of light—reminiscent of those occasional moments in life where one feels overwhelmingly alone with his or her thoughts.
If you’ve ever walked through a forest or enjoyed the symphony of animals in your backyard at night, you might notice how harmoniously connected together everything is. Nothing in nature contradicts or competes against another; instead, all objects work together to heighten the beauty of the world around you. That’s what you might find in this next painting, Roots by the Sea.
Each object blends seamlessly into the next, unifying the overall piece and allowing the true beauty of the scene to come across no matter where you’re looking. A violet sky reflects in the tumultuous waves of the sea – waves with shapes resembling those of the craggy rocks near the shore. It’s a moment of serenity I would imagine one feels when life is balanced and he or she is at peace with the world and with life.
Lastly, The Hues of Autumn is wonderfully abstract in a way that lets the viewer focus specifically on color. The same colors are present throughout the entire painting, celebrating goldenrod, juicy plums and peaches, and tinges of mocha.
It’s a lovely representation of fall, a time when (no matter where you look) you can see the colors of the season. It’s present in the trees, hanging heavy with crisp, colorful leaves, and on the ground blanketed by foliage already dropped—not to mention the warmth of a full moon, the harvested field and the bonfire keeping you warm at night.
But more than that, there’s something extra special in this painting. It’s as if the tiny details—those of slightly graded hills, placid ponds and quivering treetops—are etched directly into it, frozen in place as winter looms.
This, of course, is just the start. From watercolor and pastel to mixed-media and drawings, there’s much more of Dimitrina’s work to be seen. Be sure to visit her website and explore the rest of her artwork today.
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