Ilya Kagan
→ Playground Oasis 2024
→ Spring 2024
→ Winter 2024
→ Shed 2022
→ Spell 2022
→ Post Plague 2021
→ Watercolor 2020
→ Paintings 2019 - 2020
Body and Transformation are the two main motives that prevail in my work. For me, the body represents our earthly connection and material side. It is a tool for self-expression, deception and seduction. It is poetically intriguing that despite our cognitive and spiritual quests that tend towards transcendence, the corporeal remains an indelible aspect of our existence.
Human ambitions often exceed our capabilities, which led me to explore the concept of Transformation. It's about change and rebirth into something new. I use the interaction of the body and transformation to show what people are capable of to achieve their goals and how transformation shapes us, sometimes taxing the right body.
I draw inspiration from iconic works of art such as Raphael's Transfiguration and see a keen insight into the human desire to get closer to the sublime and the unattainable. Conversely, in Kafka's Metamorphosis, the transformation into a beetle serves as a poignant commentary on human insignificance and pathos.
Whether it's donning masks, performing complex ritual dances, or drinking mystical elixirs, people intertwine with the spiritual world, undergoing profound metamorphoses. In these moments I sense a fusion of physical challenges and subsequent transformations, a thematic study that often materializes in my images of shamans participating in rituals or people hidden behind ceremonial masks.
My art seeks to reflect the complexities of the human experience—the dynamism of movement that carries the risk of loss of humanity, versus the stagnation that can lead to obscurity and unfulfilled ambitions.