When I grow up I want to become a connoisseur of pure water

• Artist

  Yasy Bachurina

• Nationality

  Russian
  

• Medium

  Painting
  

• Style

  Abstract Surrealism

Artwork Details:

Artist's Note:

"When I Grow Up, I Will Become a Connoisseur of Pure Water" explores the connection between personal memory and collective creativity. The project consists of two paintings and a series of four graphic works on wooden panels. The indistinct figures of children in the paintings reflect a personal past that continues to influence the present, even as its details slowly dissolve into the air over many years.

A significant aspect of the work comes from spontaneous drawings made by younger schoolchildren, who created their own stories without adult instructions. Their unprompted creativity contrasts with my more conscious approach, creating a dialogue between individual and collective experience.

This project’s name is inspired by the film Maria, Mirabella. In this classic story, two girls embark on a magical journey, helping lost creatures and discovering purpose along the way. The hazy, dream-like figures in my work echo the magical and mysterious atmosphere of the film, where the innocence of children contrasts with a deeper search for meaning and understanding.

In my own words: "What is your purpose? Your goal? Your meaning? If you’ve lost it, your feet will freeze. But there’s always someone ready to walk the path of searching with you. Maria and Mirabella are my sisters too, sisters to all living things. I watched the film about them in my early childhood. Through the dark thickets of the forest, they, though small, became selfless guides for the lost creatures. They searched for the forest fairy, searched for meaning. And they found it. Then I firmly decided that when I grow up, I will definitely become a connoisseur of pure water".