Oleg Savunov, "Nostalgia For Ruins", 2023; posters on archival washi paper, magazine publication project in English and Russian printed on archival washi paper, table, chairs, table lamps; installation view at Stanford Art Gallery, CA.
Oleg Savunov
California
Visual
Graduate Fellowships, 2023 - 2024
Stanford University
↗ www.olegsavunov.com
Artist Statement
My work integrates photography, video, and mixed media to explore the intimacy of visual examination through portraiture and architecture and landscape photography. Using formal aesthetics and stylistic neutrality I reveal the intricate nature of our cultural fascination with photographic imagery and prompt viewers to think about questions of visual perception, the socio-cultural implications of landscape, and self-reflectivity. These photographic explorations of philosophical, conceptual, and existential ideas examine how the past shapes the present, and how a multi-layered visual narrative can convey information beyond the capacity of language.
While at Headlands
During the Headlands fellowship, I will conduct a thorough and detailed photographic study of the park’s landscape and its abandoned military fortifications. Additionally, I will document the interiors of the residential buildings to create an overarching mythology of this place, energized by supernatural activity. This project will use photography, video, audio recordings, and interviews with residents, staff members, and my diary notes to create a large-scale archive that presents a multi-perspectival portrait of the place.
Artist portrait by Arina Pozdnyak.
