Finalisten > Anya Kryzhko
My landscape paintings begin with moments I experience while walking through forests, fields or along rivers. I am drawn not only to the appearance of a place, but also to its atmosphere—the changing light, the movement of clouds, the silence of the water or the particular mood of a season. I try to preserve the immediate impression and emotional state that nature awakens in me. When I paint, I try to return to that moment and capture not only what I saw, but also how it made me feel. I am less interested in reproducing every detail than in expressing the mood and atmosphere of the place. By painting my own memories, I hope to awaken something personal in the viewer—a recollection of a familiar place, a childhood summer, or a quiet moment that might otherwise have been forgotten.