If faith can work miracles, art can become the tool of that faith. Such was the case with Damian Rebelski, a young, greatly talented painter gifted with an astounding intuition for colour composition and a great creative will. As he struggled with a terrible disease in his early twenties, Damian gained an almost miraculous insight into the mystery of artistic creation. The sacredness of paining (also religious) is derived from the fact that the very essence of an artist’s creation is carried within by the “divine particle” (after F. Schelling) and constitutes in itself a form of prayer, be it secular or religious in nature. It is therefore hardly surprising that the authors of Byzantine icons were invariably devoted initiates –fervent faith literally radiating from their works, to the point of ecstasy. An although many centuries have passed since, this facet of art remains largely unchanged.
Damian Rebelski participates in occupational therapy sessions in his home town of Bydgoszcz. In his travels across Poland, he is accompanied by his father, a devoted guardian and trusted manager, who still finds himself amazed by his son’s evident talent.
Damian draws using coloured pencils on 50x80 cm drawing paper (in either alignment). His works depict mythological and religious scenes and are inspired by works by various great masters from history.
Ballet Dancer
Drawing on paper, 50x80cm. Although not a copy or interpretation of Degas’s painting, it is immediately visible that the movement, composition, and scene of that masterpiece had taken root in the young artist’s imagination. The work depicts two ballet dancers in motion. One – on the left-hand side is shorter, the other – on the right – somewhat taller. The dancer on the left is holding her arms above her head, standing on the toes of her right foot. Her left is raised high at a 70 degree angle. She is wearing a green body with a low-cut neck line and a blue tutu. The bottom of the tutu is visibly hued turquoise. Her hair is ear-length and black, her eyebrows and nose drawn with a single thin contour line. Black dots stand in for the eyes and a red line for the lips. Her face, arms and legs are all coloured light yellow. She is wearing dark blue ballet shoes. The dancer on the right is holding her arms asymmetrically up, in a T-shape, standing on her left leg. Her right is raised and withdrawn, barely visible with only a hint of the shoe and ankle seen in the back. She is wearing a pink, frayed skirt and a dark-orange body with brown shoulder straps highlighted by a strip of yellow. Her ballet shoes and flowery ornaments on her arms are deep blue. The dance’s hair is dark, her face similar to that of her partner. Both are dancing on a brown floor coloured with fast stokes of the coloured pen running in various direction. A red strip separates the floor from the dark yellow wall with two arched doorways leading into the azure beyond. All elements and figures in the drawing are contoured in black.
Maja
“Maja” drawn on a 50x80 cm sheet of paper, is a female nude, in the correct drawing convention, i.e. proportionally spaced and dimensioned. It is colour-divided into two distinct halves. The bottom part – the ground – is dominated by browns, the top part – separated from the ground by a fanciful composition of green – brings to mind an arrangement of pillows, soft discarded clothing, or draped green bedding. The centre of the drawing is dominated by the naked figure of a lying woman – her head on the right-hand side of the drawing, legs slightly elevated, angled upwards – on the right. The woman is drawn in yellow, with pubic hair in the form of a triangle, gently hinted ample bosoms, large nipples, exaggerated navel, and emphasised round, chubby knees. The woman has four toes in each foot and five fingers in each hand. Her arms come together above her head of dark, short hair. The face is drawn in a manner characteristic for Damian Rebelski’s works, eyes like dots, lips drawn tightly together, eyebrows and nose hinted with a single, continuous, thin line. Maja’s figure is contoured in black. Rebelski’s drawings seem primitive and simplified, his colours never mix.
