Art in Conversation with Mihail Botnari
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mihail Botnari’s artworks address the contemporary man - the man born and raised in the digital age. The chosen approach, the relationship between the proposed theme, positioned in contrast to the classic medium of expression - carved wood and all the more interesting is the use of light in this combination. The artworks emanate a state of absolute loneliness. The metaphor of hands transformed into a huge finger - the finger with which we move the screens and with which we navigate social networks - indicates a core of the problem, reducing our lives to a single gesture, which requires minimal effort.
Roxana Gamart, on DIPLOMA 2020 Exhibition
MIHAIL BOTNARI
Sculptor | Republic of Moldova
Artist Statement
My artistic path began at Vocational School no. 4 from Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, where I studied wood art intensively. During my studies at the vocational school, I mastered the technique of direct wood carving, making decorative details in wood oil, technical drawing, as well as other techniques, which allowed me to develop as a young artist. After graduating from vocational school, I decided to continue my studies in the field and I had been successfully admitted to the National University of Arts in Bucharest, specializing in sculpture, where until now I continue my studies for Phd.
I participated in a series of methodical exhibitions held both in the Republic of Moldova and in Romania. Among the last ones are the Jan Alojzy Matejko Exhibition-Competition organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Chisinau, in which I won the second prize in sculpture, DIPLOMA 2020 in Bucharest, and the National Art Biennial "Camil Ressu" in Galati, where I have been awarded with the first prize.
Currently, I work in a characteristic way of the academic school mixed with a conceptual way of expression. I follow themes characteristic of contemporary society, moralizing themes, dealing with the surreal form. The predominant materials used are wood and resin, an antithesis of the natural and the artificial.