Cyrill is enticed by the vibrancy of the visual world.

Whilst studying fine art in the Hague, Cyrill developed a colourful post-impressionist style that rendered paintings of thick pigmented layers. Regularly painting in plein air for extended lengths of time, Cyrill would produce impasto oil studies one after the other and discover new ways of viewing, with his eyes becoming more receptive to colour as the light changed. Playing the observer, Cyrill found this heightened attention to the visual world refreshing, especially as someone who regularly felt stuck in his head. Turning his perspective inside out, Cyrill realised the vibrancy of the world, saw through appearances and deeply connected to what was around him.

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images by PILOTENKUECHE International Art Program
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Whilst this vibrancy continues to shape the mood of his work, his material approach has substantially shifted. No longer covering his canvas with as much paint as it can hold, Cyrill strives for transparency and lightness through experimentation with various water-based materials. He acknowledges the bare canvas as not merely a means to an end but as having value itself. As seen at Big Soft Illusion with the canvas retaining visibility in his Untitled series, Cyrill places the materiality of his painting at its forefront.

Cyrill joins forces with the elements.

As well as the nature of matter, the matter of nature is also fundamental to Cyrill’s process, particularly when working with cyanotype emulsion as in Perspectives (2019), Bloom (2019) and Five red moons (2020). Initially used for architectural and mechanical blueprints, the distinct cyan-blue colouration places the elements in control of the outcome and provides Cyrill with a rewarding reciprocation between himself and his work. His method involves soaking his canvas in water and applying the photosensitive chemicals so that an inky blue effect develops when exposed to ultraviolet light. Collaborating with nature, the painting absorbs the materials, the iron salts oxidise and an excitingly new and unpredictable form appears. Through this alchemical practice, the artist entrusts the art to make itself. He observes how the painting evolves without him trying to manipulate or make something out of it. Cyrill then responds and enters an exchange, a ‘mirror game’, between himself, the painting and the elemental forces.

Making space.

Space, in both the physical and pictorial sense, is a recurring subject within Cyrill’s practice. In addition to exploring spaciousness within his paintings, Cyrill perceives his paintings as objects in space which he relates to with his body as well as mind. Working with large scales, he is able to establish space between him and his work, interacting with its physicality through his own physicality and experiencing painting as involving total bodily engagement. Interested in how we ‘dream’ ourselves into the world, how our perception is an interface between us and the outside and how this is inextricable from the body, Cyrill paints in light of an experience of space which we create to fill.

Cyrill integrates the spiritual with the physical.

The subject of his most recent work, Monkey reaching for the reflection of the moon (2020), takes inspiration from the Buddhist story in which monkeys would hold each others’ tails and attempt to seize the reflection of the moon. Greens, dark blues and hints of yellow and orange wash over the picture, conjuring a luminous liquid vision that tells a narrative of enlightened awareness. Notions of balance, serenity and both inner and otherworldly exploration are recurrently evoked in Cyrill’s work, alluding to how his own spiritual journey informs his art. As well as a practitioner of meditation, Cyrill is studying craniosacral therapy, a form of bodywork that taps into the body’s capacity to self-heal through palpation. This therapy largely parallels his painting process as both are non-manipulative, observational and intuitively explore inner space. Both follow an approach of listening to what emerges, not intending to fix or disrupt but to respond tactilely as underlying energies surface.

Cyrill harmonises his connection to his inner nature with his engagement within the world. From hypnotic, holographic abstraction to beautiful figurative narration, Cyrill’s painterly installations hold an omnipresent strength of feeling and energy and thus his pursuit of intensities is achieved. To see more of Cyrill’s work, visit his website and Instagram.

Cyrill Rafael Vasilyev, photo Pietro Bulfoni