The first thing that comes to mind when we hear about “other dimensions” is something like distant planets, fantastic landscapes, and alternative worlds that exist in parallel to ours. Perhaps other images of the post-apocalyptic period that are so vividly imposed on us by the film industry.

Scientists talk about three spatial dimensions that we experience every day, and which determine the length, height, and depth of all objects in the universe. However, according to the theory of relativity, we live in four dimensions, nuclear physicists work with six, and according to string theory, there are as many as ten.

So how many dimensions actually permeate our lives? And can an ordinary person, like a research scientist, even assume that dimensions are just different facets of what we perceive as reality? And since each person has a different degree of intellectual development, comprehension of reality, and spiritual growth, reality will always be different for everyone.

In his next solo exhibition, Honored Artist of Ukraine Oleksandr Humenchuk offers a vision of the world through the prism of life experience, continuing to study, rethink and use signs and symbols in his work. After all, the symbol is one of the central concepts of philosophy, philology and aesthetics, without it, it is impossible to build either a theory of language or a theory of cognition. Despite the illusion of clarity, the concept of a symbol is one of the most ambiguous for perception.

Therefore, the artist weaves them into his works in different ways. In some works, with the help of signs and local background colors, he refers to the feelings and emotions that are in the human subconscious (the triptych “Trinity”). In others, he creates coded messages, thus endowing the work with a certain mystery (diptych “Matrix”). Nevertheless, we must admit that the signs in Oleksandr Ivanovych’s work are the author’s text, which each viewer reads to the best of his or her understanding.

Along with everyday themes of life (“Sunset,” “Ant Farm,” and “Landscape of a Harvested Field”), which the artist reveals in a recognizable manner, he also responds to global issues in an artistic way. For example, the “consumer society”, in which excess is associated with the “overloading” of the cultural space with things. Objects lose their function of usefulness too quickly, and the connection between symbols and reality is destroyed and dies. This is primarily due to the aggressive manipulation of the media space. All symbols become a commodity that will become outdated and unfashionable in a very short period of time. O. Humenchuk reflects on this issue inspiringly and extensively (3d-TV series), using in his works the technique of assemblage, one of the founders of which, Jean Dubuffet, once said: “The purification of civilization from waste becomes the material for creating works of art.”

So, returning to the three dimensions in which we live, I would like to hope that despite different life circumstances and problems, we will all learn to live in harmony with nature, time, and our sacred essence. And finally, we will begin to appreciate things for their historical uniqueness, craftsmanship, and originality.