Metamorphosis

This painting is autobiographical and represents the experience of the artist leaving Russia and now enjoying his feelings of freedom and union with nature on the island of Maui. The beautiful butterflies represent Victor's spirit escaping from the dark confinement of the drawer, escaping from a life lived in books and among the other drab artifacts of the human-created reality. The butterflies have been freed to metamorphose into an exquisite Maui rainbow. They experience the true brilliance of their colors and are at one with the sky, the clouds, the sunshine and the trees. As we circle around back down to the lower right of the painting, we see the forces of nature, the tree roots and the water, gently and continuously breaking down the artificial constructs of humanity. The painting can also be seen to symbolize the similar experience so many visitors have in the Hawaiian Islands. Like butterflies escaping from a dark drawer, people feel freed from the artificial constraints of their daily lives and reunited once again with nature.