~ The Secret Gardens ~

The magnificent nature has revealed many things, but also much more it has left for us to discover and explore. Its opaque gardens called us to discover many secret messages. There is a secret, whose doors we are only slightly opened, and this is the secret of human nature. The gallery of miraculous human souls, mysterious eyes and smiles, who rule the hidden empire of strange plants and herbs, awakens the imagination of the viewer. In the abundance of light and colors, gorgeous wreaths around their heads and decorative wrapped clothes, are dancing in the rhythm of their mood. The ornamental rhythm, expressed in clear lines, shaped like knots and tied and twisted decorative ribbons, invites us to dance. Colorful flowers symbolically announce the arrival of the spring. Vivid and flicker characters are freely expressed in space, and nature in their background seems to be involved in events and emotions. Naturalistic expressed in idyllic and biblical scenes, they provide different testimonies of past times. The human being and his surroundings are the subject of many creative works. Suzana Stojanović did not resist nature’s charms too. Her opinion is that creators need to know a lot about nature, so they can faithfully show and explain it. The series of artworks “The Secret Gardens” she began to work in 2008. As in life, as well as in creativity, she never wanted to be chained with chains, so she transferred her freedom to her works. She simply works only what she wants and the way she wants it, because she thinks that ability is exactly what lies hidden deeply in the soul of the author, and that is the way, in which he will express it hidden, his own. “He does not have to be understandable, but he should always be his own”, says the artist. There are many interesting people in the gardens of humanity. Some of them cause wonderment and attract attention because they lead us away from the usual perceptions, some stand out with their dignity and spontaneity, and some triumph with their melodic beauty in unknown light and atmosphere. In the endless gallery of characters and figures, located in the picturesque flower gardens, Suzana tries to discover what is hidden in them, is there some message. One of her most representative works of the series “The Secret Gardens” is definitely the “Lost Kingdom” personified in the figure of a thoughtful woman with a gold overcoat, sitting on a fallen tree, surrounded by thick green leaves. Her kingdom is miraculous and does not exist on maps; once it disappears, it can never be found anymore. Its palaces are invisible. They are woven from dreams, music, love and fragrances. The thoughts of this beautiful woman are guardians of its walls, and her hidden desires are guardians of its space. Everything is airy in this kingdom: sometimes it is illuminated by light, and sometimes wrapped in deep darkness, and it seems that the thoughtful woman is trapped in it. In her view, dignity and forgiveness, dreams and abandonment, pain and pride clash. Her soul is chained with heavy chains. The only evidence that she once lived in a miraculous kingdom is a gold coat edged with flowers and a thin crown on her head because “lost gold can be found, and the lost kingdom never”, says Suzana in one of her essays. People in her secret gardens often turn their backs on viewers (“Presentiment”), but it’s not a departure nor an insurgence but a subtle way that she chooses to show us in what direction and what they are going to, showing us the phenomena and feelings that motivated her to create. A Renaissance dressed woman, long blond hair, with her body movement directs us to someone, only known to her, happening. Lush green grass, fresh shade of the garden and color gradations contribute to the mystery of this event. Although without clouds, the blurred sky announces uncertainty and confirms the theory that nature still rules over everything. Even the smallest breeze can sometimes bring unrest and fear into the fragile human soul. The skill is to describe all those wonderful sounds that carry only hints. The work “Flower” at first glance is one of the many illustrations of the myth about the beautiful Narcissus of an ice heart that did not return love to anyone. However, if we look a little deeper into this artwork, behind the sad willows that are reflected in the water, we can observe a sad love story about a young man who sends a flower to the girl by the river to tell her that he is waiting for her. The presented scene is distinguished from others not only because of motif but also because of the unusually palette rich in various nuances, which intertwine in water full of plants and contours of the sky. In this way, Suzana displayed two scenes in one: the one we see in the young man and his immediate surroundings, but also the other, which is beyond that scenery, in the Renaissance ambient and velvety clouds that radiate heavenly peace and tranquility. However, the mild gray that covers the whole picture suggests that a young man’s message, hidden in a beautiful flower, bright yellow color, will go down the water unnoticed. The most intriguing work of the series “The Secret Gardens” is “Leaving”. Hidden from the public’s view and relieved of all external influences, surrounded by lush vegetation in her secret garden, facing the viewers, this woman, although she leaves with the body, speaks of inner freedom and some miraculous peace that prevails in her and in her surroundings. Her view is relaxed and it looks like she has just left all the memories and disappointments behind her, and a bright red hair confirms her determination to start a new path. She leaves a wild, desolate and dead place in which intertwined, drained branches and dense plants that climb through these branches seeking a way to reach the light, rule. The woman does not carry any luggage with her, which completes the story of her breaking up with anything that can in any way associate her with this desolate place. Close and distant, and at the same time fantastic and realistic, the artworks of Suzana Stojanović attracting views with naturalistic vision, in which sensible women merging with the sounds of nature, rustling treetops and grass and unusual peace that dominates the space, in which they are metaphorical and allegorical represented. In these works, the sky is almost not visible and it looks as the author is trying to tell us that her people do not want to leave the ambiance they are in. The view of the woman in the picture “Promise” speaks of self-confidence and determination, but at the same time a secret that she does not want to transfer to the space outside her garden. Even the work “Catch the Sun”, bathed in light, stops in the hands of a girl who holding the Sun and the Moon, gently smiling. Suzana followed the lives of different people and presents them on her works in a natural environment. The fact that she lives in the middle of a crowd that is constantly changing and the wave infinitely merges and separates is the source of enormous inspiration. Each of these faces hides a secret. She tries to present them just as she sees them, honestly, without embellishment and allegory, carefully working the details. The artist, in each of her illustrations, tries to stop a moment of life, which, for the person she represents, may be crucial. It looks like her people are constantly standing at some milestones and intersections, surrounded by plants and dense forests, and that they are constantly looking for an exit from those forests. Creators often find themselves in such situations and perhaps it is precisely what provokes defiance in them and makes them go ahead, not giving up in spite of the difficulties they encounter. Part of Suzana’s art creativity is constantly focused on researching man and nature. The meditative mood and depth of feelings radiate from her individuals supported by lush vegetation. In this way, nature is recognized as value for itself, and not only as a decor. It is also not a part of the soul or an expression of the inner life of the faces represented. Moreover, people and their environment form unity. They are connected by light, with which together they become an expression of mysterious mood and harmonic accompaniment that emanates from luxurious gardens. Sometimes this harmony turns into presentiment and restlessness, when thick clouds over the idyllic scenery and mysterious smiles come up, which announce the storm. At those moments, it seems that a man closes himself in his own non-existent universe, not knowing that any alienation from nature leads him to the dungeon. The enchanting light that plays on his face only hints at the secrets he has successfully hiding from the public for years, despite many emotional and lifelong rises and falls. Sometimes he finds some of his spiritual peace in front of the easel, hidden in the deep shadows of the forest, sometimes in socializing with the cuddly creatures, and sometimes in the long sailing of the river, watching the outlines of his own life in its moving scenes. These are moments in which he forgets about everyday adversity and goodbyes, the loud streets and disturbing faces. Suzana loves nature and flowers and the beauty of lush gardens often describes in her artworks because “every flower, whether rose, chrysanthemum, peony, perch or dahlia, has its own secret”, she says. Each of these innumerable pieces of which nature is composed has some sense and meaning. The burble of the water below the waterfall, the wind that carries the scent of field flowers and swings the branches, the wonderful birds that nest in them, is all a great inspiration. “Catching, with brushes, shadow and ray shifts as they play their eternal game of hunting and releasing, is a challenge”, says the author. Her “Secret gardens” are filled with inner and external beauty and are very pleasant to watch. The works of this series (which can also be seen in DeviantArt, Behance and ArtStation gallery) abound with interesting perspectives, characters, various costumes and rich decorations, described very diligent. They reveal a precise and detailed panorama of a bright and, at times, a melancholy, motley life, and unknown areas with mythological and arcade scenes that are transformed into poetry. Meadow flowers, sprinkled with mountain streams, celebrate nature and write beautiful verses about life and many happy and unhappy loves. Through the gardens of Suzana Stojanović, many captivating women with flower wreaths over their heads pass. Romantic scenes are a reflection of different inner feelings. Through the thick branches of the trees, inner adventures are breaking through, vivid eyes and cheeks of beautiful faces flicker. In these lively views reflect the resolve of a man to explain to himself the phenomena surrounding him, impose his laws, and meet his own inner to experience himself more fully. Powered by the strength of his own spirit, he wants to rule the external reality, and not be overwhelmed by it. Often unprepared to deal with this cruel reality, he goes to hidden places, away from curious views, where only their strange tenants and the twitter of the heavenly birds interrupt their silence. In these secret places, besides stone fountains and in the shade of gorgeous trees, where many varied emotions and feelings swing, many creators find inspiration for their art and among them is Suzana.