Victoria
Goro-Rapoport
From
the very early stages of Victoria Goro-Rapoport's
development as an artist, she was torn between two
seemingly contradictory means of expression. On one
hand, strongly drawn towards traditional two-dimensional
drawing and painting, which captures the moment and
freezes it within a single frame of reference; On
the other hand, equally charmed by the mysterious
world of theatre where events unfold in time and three
dimensions.
Work in two dimensions leaves it up to the spectator
to fantasize about the events preceding or following
the depicted event or the elements, which were left
unexplained. A door painted on canvas or drawn on
paper remains forever closed, keeping its secrets
to itself. On the contrary, doors on stage as in three
dimensions tend to incrementally reveal their mysteries
which shock or dazzle us with sequential developments.
In theatre, the picture created on stage is a subject
for transformation and movement, ever fluid, ever
changing, ever surprising us with unexpected twists
and turns of a carefully scripted plot.
Rapoport grew up admiring the work of early twentieth
century Russian artists, who worked for the stage,
but who's costume and set design sketches became art
pieces in their own right. Their designs are so evocative
and emotionally charged, that you can almost feel
the smell of the burning incense emanating from Leon
Bakst's paintings for Shaharazade, or the church candles
in Natalia Gontcharova's paintings for the ballet
"Lithurgia."
Rapoport's early professional life was connected with
the theatre. She graduated from the Moscow Art College
with the BFA in set design in 1985, and continued
her education in University of Utah, where she received
a MFA in set design in 1998. While working in various
drama and puppet theaters, Rapoport discovered that
the most enjoyable and challenging part of the set
design process was drawing. The rich and mysterious
world of the stage starts at the drafting table with
two or three pencil lines on a piece of vellum. She
became more and more involved with two-dimensional
graphics, translating her stage experiences into drawings
and prints, which possessed their own raison d'etre.
For all its magic, theater has its limitations; this
is why we see people fly or volcanoes erupt much more
often in paintings than on stage. Rapoport was looking
for creating a world of limitless possibilities, and
the time came when drawing and printmaking became
more important to her than set design. Consequently,
she switched entirely to these media.
The knowledge of theater technology, periods of architecture
and experience in detailed drafting helped her to
become a better printmaker. The path of set designer
that she followed in her early career required extensive
reading, beginning with ancient Greek literary works
and culminating with contemporary American novels.
Literature became a preeminent source of her inspiration
as a fine artist. Rapoport's favorite writers, to
whose literary heritage she constantly refers, are
Borges, Nabokov and Kafka. Their works are filled
with the twisted labyrinths of mind, depicting troubled
souls deceived by chimera, false vision and humbuggery
of the surrounding world. She believes that the work
of these authors is very theatrical. They explore
a world where nothing is what it seems, and like painted
flats on stage, everything has two sides: one, clean
and brightly lit for the spectator, and another, dark
and hidden, for the back stage manipulators.
Rapoport grew up in USSR, a society that was supposed
to be the first utopia in the history of humankind.
The goals of ultimate justice, equality and brotherhood
were never realized. At her age the horrors of repressions
were over, but the oppression of the freethinking
and creativity continued. As a result, the soviet
people learned to live in an atmosphere of ultimate
hypocrisy, halfheartedly playing the roles, which
were assigned to them by the government. The whole
country turned into an elaborate stage set, a giant
Potimkin village, where beautifully painted facades
were hiding crumbling ruins, and excessive make up
covered up the pallor of starvation. This explains
why the topics of illusion and disillusionment became
important themes of her work.
In Rapoport's current and future work, she aspires
to combine her theatrical experience in three-dimensional
design and model building with her expertise in printmaking
in innovative and experimental ways. She is also looking
for the possibility of collaborating with artists
working in other modes of expression, such as literature
and animation, which are based upon interests related
to the imagery, which she uses in her prints.
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