For Marina Davydovna Levina (1948-2004), who was Marina's art teacher and without whom this would not have been possible.

There is an opinion that paintings should be a pleasure to the eye, and aim to serve as a patch of colour in home interiors. On the other hand, the aesthetic of the ugly has also become prominent today, but what is behind it? Often simply a desire to cause a stir and please the public at any cost. These types of art happen to be most popular at the moment. However, a true artist cannot conform to the opinion of the majority and become a machine producing "beautiful eye-pleasing things", or an inventor of new methods of tickling nerves. What is left to a painter, if he simply wants to express his feelings, pain, loss or a personal understanding of reality? Creative work is a complex process, and the category of aesthetic does not necessarily dominate it. This is why Marina’s new paintings from the series "Intentions of the Mind", can elicit surprise and even lack of acceptance, even among those who are familiar with her work. These paintings don't attempt to startle or stun the viewer, although they differ dramatically from her previous work, in both subject matter and style. At first sight, there's no express story here, we see only the faces of different characters, but in the opinion of the artist, it is the faces that can tell so much.

For Marina the aesthetic attraction is not essential. This is why some of the faces on her portraits have a somewhat off-putting appearance. But these are not portraits of specific people - they are signs, symbols or collective images, so to speak, which describe through the medium of painting the psychological states experienced by people. This new series was created after a considerably long break - it took Marina almost a year to make up her mind to express her relationship to the world around her. In order to realise the new concept as vividly as possible, Marina modified her already easily recognisable style. Composition is simpler now, just faces against a background. On the other hand the overall look of the picture has become livelier and richer. Gone is the linearity, there are no more clear contours characteristic of Marina's earlier works, form is created by colour. Simplicity and harmony give way to the clash of unmatching colours. This new device intensifies the psychological effect. Now it is the colour that has the decisive role. A face is discernible as a dialogue of patches and colours. Combinations of anxious violet with bright pink and emerald, due to their disharmonious nature, heighten the poignancy of impression even further. There is no longer just the melancholy and sadness of earlier works, but a cry for help, squeezed within the limits of decorum, but yet distinctly audible. If earlier, colour had a symbolical focus, now it helps to achieve emotional and psychological effect.

The series opens with "Wise". The image of this experienced man embodies for Marina a definite psychological state, which is characterised by reconciliation of oneself with God. He has learnt the truth and is happy, but the harboured sadness in his eyes and lowered corners of his mouth tell us, that such state can be attained at the far end of a long road of hardship and suffering.

The next portrait displays the image of a destroyer, which is ironically entitled "The Builder". Often the status of a noble profession can help a man to conceal his soiled conscience, but his roaming gaze will always give him away. This character allows Marina to portray the state of mind of a man in discord with himself; he instinctively feels his own injustice, but the animal nature in him constantly gains the upper hand.

In order to convey the idea of the painting entitled "Facing It", Marina paints a portrait of a young woman staring at herself in the mirror. The reflection not only lets her see her own self from aside, but allows her to glance in to the depths of her soul. Such a glance helps one to understand oneself as an individual, and understand other people as well. Like lightning, the realisation suddenly dawns upon you - hence the intensity of the red here. Many, if not all of us, are familiar with this emotional state.

"The Nurse" continues the series and portrays the image that symbolises care for people's physical and mental state. This is the embodiment of all-encompassing selfless love. A nurse meets us at birth, supports us in the course of our life and sees us off to the other world. This portrait of an ungainly delicate girl shows us how unstable such love is, but, at the same time, in terms of colour, due to its intense green background, it is the most harmonious and pacifying.

For "No Intention" Marina chooses faces from the crowd. Good-looking girls best of all personify an individuals' natural state, when everything is subordinate to the basic instinct, while intellectual and spiritual life recede to the background.

The alarming image of a dying woman in "Dwelling on the Past" is evoked by the death of Marina's art teacher Marina Davydovna. Once the woman depicted on this painting was young, beautiful and sociable, but in the last years illness has confined her to bed and she constantly thinks of death, awaiting it with impatience - the end of physical suffering. Thus, "Dwelling on the Past" is a state of the foreboding of death, which, with its comprehension of the past life, remembrances of awkward and unpleasant moments, brings bitter realisation, that life hasn't turned out the way we may have liked. The artist has admitted that she didn't wish to idealise or romanticise the unprepossessing image of death, thus the woman on this picture is deliberately unappealing.

An individual of indeterminate sex and age looks at us from the painting entitled "Red". The overall sombre colour scheme of the portrait creates a sense of depression, lack of light and air. This is the only character with a negative tinge, in Marina's opinion. It was important for the artist to portray the atmosphere which surrounds an individual who doubts everyone and everything, is unable to trust. The tiny world of this person is contrasted to the sweeping range, peacefulness and carelessness of the world of a philosopher-sage.

"Unbearable Thoughts". This state of mind is clearly familiar to the artist. In the background we can recognise one of St Petersburg's embankments. Is this an emotional experience of the past? Or is it a significant stage of the thinking process and a necessary element of growing up? Unlike some of the other "Intentions", the eyes of this character are looking down, not at the viewer. This is the only image in the series so far, where eye contact is not available to the viewer.

"Clarity" depicts the opposite of the previous "Intention", and represents a state of mind that is a desirable conclusion to the "Unbearable Thoughts". This image portrays a peaceful state of mind and soul, perhaps the one we wish to attain and keep searching for.

"Crawler". The face and hands of this character express the same emotion – the effort to survive. Is this the survival instinct, the will for life? Though surrounded by pitch dark, this "Intention" is "crawling" towards the light; the eyes are looking up, perhaps where the only source of light is located. The monochrome colour scheme and shadows on the face create an impression of a cave. The artist uses a sombre palette. Is the "crawler" crawling from the underground of his own confusion?

"Youth". On the one hand – this is an open-minded, simple face. On the other, it has a dignified air of active observation of the world. This image expresses a confident honesty of a young man, devoid of any obvious aggression. It is a hopeful intention of the mind - an image of a young person, not yet experienced, but eager to learn. He is curious and sober-minded; he has not yet been hurt or disappointed.

"Execution" shows a state of mind of a victim of violence. The source of violence is not necessarily on the outside of the victim's mind. It may be the guilt that destroys a person. The artist does not specify whether the portrayed image represents a victim of violence from within or from the outside. What matters is that any kind of violence is repulsive. This is one of the key images in the series – the artist's assertive statement, her protest against violence towards a human being. Unfortunately, the idea of carrying out an act of violence as a rule comes into being within one's mind.

"Sweet dreams". The working of the human mind while we are sleeping has always been one of the most intriguing areas of our conscience. This particular image represents a dream, or a mind asleep, when it recollects happy moments from the past. Returning to childhood, a feeling of being safe, and a sense of freedom. Purple, lilac and blue create a peaceful, relaxed impression. It is a unique experience, which can take place only within the confines of our minds. Let’s hope that most of us are familiar with this state of mind."

Svetlana Sorokina
Art Historian
Academy of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, Russia