Felix Petuvash: non-oil paintings

The main aim of this review is to identify elements of the creative experience of the famous Adyghe artist Felix Petuvash. These elements allowed him to create works in the collage technique; through their deep symbolism, Petuvash’s works actualize the historical memory of the audience. The range of research materials included Petuvash’s works (collages), his interviews reflecting his creative ideas, as well as art criticism studies dedicated to Petuvash. In the research, a formal-stylistic method was used. The artist’s works associated with nature and the motives of unity with it are characterized. The merit of the artist is noted: for many years on the banks of the Krasnodar reservoir he found thousands of archaeological objects from mounds, connected with the history of the Adyghe people, that were flooded during the construction of the man-made reservoir. The Setenai collage, which the artist created from the ancient jewelry, elements of weapons and other discoveries he found, is analyzed; the artist’s memories of his first experiments with the collage technique are given. The significance of the pagan pantheon of the ancient Adyghe people, mythology and the Nart epic in Petuvash’s works is reflected, the process of the artist’s personal creative understanding of the origins of spirituality, culture and Adyghe mentality is shown. Collages on mythological plots (God of the Hunt, Patron of Animals, God of Abundance, God the Blacksmith, etc.) are described, the artistic techniques Petuvash used when creating them are explained. Traditional religious ideas and various regulations that existed in the Adyghe culture and are associated with the deities depicted by the artist are revealed. Petuvash’s collages are analyzed in close connection with the plot outline and symbolism of the images of the heroic Nart epic, in which social changes that took place in ancient times found expression. The author believes that, among the collages created by Petuvash, the quintessence of his creative thought is expressed by the work Theshkho (Main God). The author also mentions and briefly characterizes collages Petuvash made on topics not related to Adyghe mythology. The author concludes that the artistic effect of works by Petuvash is based on a serious study of mythology and the Nart epic, a deep immersion of the master in the world of the Adyghe traditional culture and national mentality, maximum sincerity and reliability in the transmission of artistic plots.