The Bear

The image of the bear is striking and prolific in art objects and decorative pieces. Of all animals the bear has the most anthropomorphic characteristics, making it a uniquely relatable archetype, and establishing the richness of the bear’s symbolic image, all of which is vividly represented in the teddy bear toy.

A teddy bear, as a symbolic notion of an animal, is situated on the intersection between the living and the inanimate. Its purpose as a toy has resulted in an seemingly infinite variety of forms and formats, but some examples remain outside of practical usage, and instead follow the principles of art, putting emphasis on a particular concept, beauty, or expressiveness of the lines. Such creations develop in the artist’s imagination, putting creativity and aesthetic above functionality and as such expanding our existing understanding of the role of the teddy bear as an object.

Artist Olga Vishnevetskaya uses the form of the teddy bear as the focus of her artistic practice. Following the development of her pieces one can see how she embodies in them natural phenomena, historical and cultural inspirations, and fantastical worlds. This is translated through facial expression, colour palette and decorative elements, elements which cannot be seen as merely clothing or accessories, rather a theatrical costume worn by the bear to play his role of becoming a metaphor for the artist’s idea.

Northern Jewels

The collective name for Olga’s creations is Northern Jewels, designed to verbally characterise key aesthetic principles of her work and accurately represent her pieces.

In our minds “northern” is associated with sparkling cold severity and hardening conditions. It’s this spirit that we see in the soft melancholy of the eyes of the artist’s creations. The proportions of her bears are anthropomorphic, though rather close to the real body of a bear. As for the heads — their lines are remarkably authentic, making them undoubtedly bears' heads, but with an animate human gaze. This is the look that directs us to the bear’s function as a family member, a companion, carefully kept for many years and passed down several generations. The gaze is profound, serene and dignified. This ability to bring the character to life through a detail as small as the eyes is what in our opinion gives Olga her primary artistic edge.

The “jewels” part of the brand name carries many meanings. The notion of the bear being one of the treasures of the north; the high quality of fabrics used and unique decorative elements created by the artist — Olga uses uses silks, velvet and lace from brands like Liberty, Etro, Armani and Solstiss, as well as semi-precious stones and pearls. Most importantly, “jewels” embodies the personal emotion the artist feels towards each of her exquisite art objects, that she hopes to convey to the viewer.

The characters she produces are not easily identifiable. Olga does not imitate historic costumes or a popular image; she creates a unique aesthetic by interpreting known and experienced artistic symbols. The artist combines her creations into collections creating thematic connotations using colours, textures, and shapes. The collection names complete the analogy through verbal associations. For instance, “Sailing Close to the Wind” collection is filled with the reckless pirate spirit and visions of distant travels, while the “Among the Wings, Among the Shadows” collection takes us to a mysterious and more playful world of theatre performance.

All this allows Olga Vishnevetskaya’s art to be critiqued as Haute Couture in the teddy bear world.