The 1970s were the most fruitful period in the creative work of Yuriy Votyakov, a graphic artist from Yakutia. During this time, he actively experimented with gravure techniqes and turned to the image of the Yakut shaman. He was especially carried away with an idea of shaman’s deep connection with nature and space.
The composition “Shaman” was made by Votyakov in 1976. He depicted the shaman with a tambourine and a beater in the moment of performing a sacred ritual during which diviners communicate with spirits. It is usually accompanied with loud songs and sounds, the beats of tambourines.
Three heads symbolise three different states of the shaman’s state of mind. The artist placed them in a circle to create a sense of endless, vibrating movement. The shaman’s costume is richly trimmed with pendants and a fringe of leather straps, which represent the “feathers” of a bird and symbolize the magical power of the shaman, who could fly to other worlds during the ritual. The same motive is repeated by the author – a flock of flying birds is depicted in the upper part of the graphic sheet.
Votyakov created “Shaman” in the etching technique with the use of aqua fortis. The term derives from the French “eau-forte” or nitric acid. Using this method, works were made from a metal plate, which was covered with a layer of varnish. The artist scratched the drawing on top with a needle. Then the plate was dipped in acid, which affected the areas where there is no coating. Varying the depth and thickness of strokes, the artists were able to control the intensity of color.
In the art of Votyakov, a special place is occupied by epic tales of different countries and peoples, folk stories that are addressed to the person, his memory and morality. The figurative and plastic structure of his works tend to be strongly metaphorical, associative; his art always has its own musical leitmotiff and strict sincere intonation. The artist always tried to merge the philosophical depth and versatility of life he strived to express with the impeccable artistic technique of sheets made in etching, woodcut, linocut, and so on. Votyakov lived less than 36 years, but during this time he managed to create his own artistic world – unusual, metaphorical, not always decipherable, intellectual and expressive.
