Testimony of Olena Smaha about Barcelona’s Residency 2016

I was thinking a lot in the meaning of my witnessing about my staying at the art-residence in Barcelona. The spiritual, emotional and informative pack I brought home cannot be overstated, but it is very easy to underestimate it. My fear to lose or even do not find the deepest meaning of our diverse intensive communication during these ten days, paralyzed wording of my testimony. I was wandering in circles of my personal reflections and fears, as I returned to the theme of Love and Truth and to a subject I have been mystically cherished in my heart on my way to Barcelona.

At the present time, there is a lot of art focused on criticism, but not many of art is expressing exaltation and praise. The activity of critical art is to expose the lie. Art to glorify – seeks to find the truth.

Art expressing adoration, unwittingly provokes internal prayer and puts us in a position of divine search for the object of worship. This art flickers our lulling spirituality and makes us to search for the deepest invisible essence hidden in visible form.

This art seeks contact while without it art cannot happen as it is. Art can reveal and give itself only in this true unity.

Moment of finding the contact raises in us credibility to the object of contemplation, and when we trust we cease to be afraid. We can recognize and accept our weakness before face of covert greatness of true art only in completely unquestioning confidence. It appears so strong to us that it is able to turn reality and make us an object of its own contemplation. The strength of its beauty opens hearts, makes them ready to receive and to give. It is the giving and the taking by itself.

Rediscovered Essence generates close unity, although we cannot fully understand it, but, nevertheless, we feel our relationship with it.

Our experience of living union with majestic, immense essence gives us a sense of grace. We begin to exalt the contact itself and our own connection with the object. This connection lies not in the space of usual dialogue with questions and answers, but it is hidden in a deep interpenetration that makes us one. One in such an extent that we are able to keep the memory of this contact with rediscovered essence and grace affecting us through majestic beauty, during all our life. This beauty is universal, it reveals the essence and sounds like Truth. This beauty is unique, it finds connection and sounds like Love.
In order to form a ‘Catena’, every element must reveal itself. Only after, it will receive the ability to unite with another part of his chain. Then, it will forever bear a sign in the form of a scar at the site of the contact.

At the residence, our unity could happen only with opened hearts seeking to take and to give. Daily communion in faith and art have transformed our normal group in a community of faithful and dedicated. We participated and witnessed how strong influence can be made on the human heart with true art accepted in deep faith. For Art and Faith, like Love and Truth, cannot exist without each other.