Reference
Of Elza Naiil Nafikova
Creative Activity.
Elza Nafikova is a universally gifted artist: she displays in her creative activity an equivalent interest both to painting and to easel printing graphic art.
She got an artistic education at an Artistic-Drawing faculty of the Bashkir State Teachers` Institute (University at present; 1991-1996),
Since 1999 she has been an active participant of art exhibitions: printing graphic art republican and international specialized ones and contests in such European countries as Spain, Romania, Сzech Republic, Belgium. She was awarded a diploma of a participant of the «White Naigts» Second Independent International Biennale of graphic Art (Saint-Petersburg) by the biennale and by the modern Graphics Development fund for her participation in this Biennale in 2004.
In 2003 she took part in the First Republican Contest of Young Artists of Bashkortostan for the best work of fine arts and was awarded a special prize of the “Culture Protection League” International Public Organization for her expressiveness of an image pictorial- plastic solution according to the Contest results she became a member of Young Artists and Art Critics Association at the Regional Branch of the “Union of Arts of Russia ” All- Russia Creative Public Organization of the republic of Bashkortostan.
Her intensive creative activity as a painter and an easel graphic artist is combined with her interest to interiors and exteriors and also with her teaching activity : in 2004-2005 she was a lecturer in drawing at the Architectural faculty of the Bashkir Construction College.
Elza Nafikova is one of mast gifted and brilliant young artist of Bashkortostan. This summary is confirmed by yearly progress of her creative credit that is an expression of her author ness ‘ mobility. And she mobility, in its turn is not possible without a clear programme, which is none other than the expression of the authorness’ world outlook which dictates the logic of the development of stylistic and image-tematic lines.
In this sense E.Nafikova is uncommonly consistent and devoid of a pictorial-plastic epatage which is common to many young artists and which covers at times a common absence of skill.
Already in her paintings Elza Nafikova declared her inclination to a metaphoric, symbolic solution of the image; from the point of view of style her manner represented some symbiosis of plastic devices– both realistic and expressionistic art, to linocutting in the first place.
Nafikova’s linocuts have guite a number of artistic merits which are indicative of both her professional skill and harmonious world outlook which is an uninterrupted progress. First, Nafikova is a master of the whole store of technical devices: a solid local paint is being enriched by a variety of shading, linear «moves» mini-stains, being in contrast with the expressiveness of the white which, in its turn, stresses the silhouette of the black. Secondly, each her list is notable for its high composition culture: a composition centre is easily correlated with a semantic centre, stressed by the contrast between black and white colors, for all that, Nafikova– composer is devoid of any, even slight, temptation to use in her works of art the principle of illustrativity: principally paramount for her is a compressed, capacious, expressive in its plastic «asceticism» image which due to this composition and plastic solution possesses the dualities of a sign, a symbol, the content structure of which is known to be multy- layed. Thirdly the image- thematic line of Nafikova’s separate works of art or their whole series is dictated by the same metaphorism of thinking; the content problems of this line are based on eternal moral values, the inner nature of which has characteristics of a philosophical symbolism. These is the creation of the world, love, sky, space, faith, spirit (soul) movement, emotional- psychologic states of a human being, as recollection, sorrow, striving for perceiving the unknown.
As we see, Elza Nafikova’s art possesses the qualities of an elite art. The logic of the development of a figurative line which assumes an implicit image-thematic prospective within the frames of the so-called authorness’ myphologemes convinces in this. Already nowadays Elza Nafikova is a whole- hearted artist who is actively exhibiting and uninterruptedly striving for mastering skill.
Svetlana Ignatenko,
An art critic,
Deputy scientific director
of the Bashkir State
Museum of Art named
after M.V.Nesterov,
a member of the Union
of Arts of Russia,
Honoured Art Worker.
15.11.2005