How many spots does a cow have? Why are dad’s ears hairy? What did Stefan the dog eat the sock for? That’s the thing… this childlike curiosity. Cheerful and direct. In my art I look for the answers to seemingly simple, yet not simplistic questions. The questions asked by an inner child. Everyone has one. Regardless how old you are, this child is always with you and it asks, and asks, and asks… but you’re stuck in the rut, too busy dealing with matter, and you no longer hear it. Still, down there inside, silently and quietly, someone forgotten squeaks whispering soundlessly. I lend my heart. Slowly, without haste. I listen carefully. In silence. I don’t judge. My hand starts to create all by itself. Colorfully and lightly, with fun and melancholy, simply and naïve. Reaching deep to the truth. It tells the story of hidden childish dreams, of the naïve joy drawn from little things around. Of happiness.
I graduated from an artistic school for talented children in Belarusian Socialist Soviet Republic. Eight years of drill and art, day by day. The form, the half-lights, the anatomy. You need to learn to paint first, then you can create! Right. After my education was finished I gave up art for long 15 years. I had enough. Wanted to forget all this academic rubbish. Fifteen years of my adult life: art director, senior art director, my own advertising agency, commercials director, the awards, the festivals… More, more, and mooore… but where’s the joy? Where’s the finish line? When will it be enough? Slowly, very slowly I started to feel again. To hear. Quietly and silently… my child was asking. Is it far? Are we there yet? I listened. And I was afraid. But wanted to create again. I heard my childish dream. I closed my eyes and… let it be, what is meant to be! The art came back. Simple and naïve. Straight from the heart. Just as you can see. As I feel it.
Aliaksandr Kanavalau
EXHIBITION:
2020 BIG / small, foundation Rak’n’Roll, Warsaw, Poland
2019 The Monsters – Shakespeare Theatre, Gdańsk, Poland
2016 The International Festival of Comics and Games, Łódź, Poland
2016 Monstransform, Warsaw, Poland
2015 The International Festival of Comics and Games, Łódź, Poland
2015 Berlin Graphic Days, Berlin, Germany
2015 The Monsters, Warsaw, Poland
