INVERSION IN PITTSBURGH
By Bea Schneider
On an August day, I got the chance to go to the studio of Masha Solus, a watercolor artist currently living and working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Our conversation was both honest and vulnerable, discussing art and its personal impact for Masha. Masha began our conversation speaking of how she grew up in Moscow, a place that has shaped both her art and identity. Vulnerability and distortion serve as central themes in her work. Immediately, it became apparent that she engages viewers directly. Invitations for them to question their own perceptions are sprinkled throughout.
Masha’s education in Moscow took 12 years to complete and after those 12 years she learned that the classical tradition was something that didn’t work for her. Artists in Moscow start learning philosophy first within their education, which took about five years. Her classes were based in both art and philosophy. Masha suggests for new artists to start with the history of art before starting the art itself, and feels that this is an important step in being an artist. Masha moved to Israel in 2014, where she continued her studies, learning conceptual and contemporary art. The combination of the two allowed for both thought and impression. She remained in Israel for eight years. In late 2021, Masha said she started creating modern art. A few months later Masha and her family moved to the United States, around the time that Russia invaded Ukraine. Masha realized that her opinion of this war was different from those of her friends and relatives. This is when she started applying the technique of inversion to her art.
The language of inversion began in Masha’s art when she thought about the complexity and confusion going on around the world and how people felt about conflict. She experiments with various mediums of paint to show this, such as watercolor, oil, tempura, and acrylic.
Her current process is methodical. Conceptualizing; contemplation; the writing out of texts and concepts can take six months. All of which takes place before Masha begins.
Her painting above shows a conflict between visual messages and text messages. The viewer is invited to touch the canvas, as braille lays at the foundation of the work, on the girl’s body. Touching paintings is a new concept to me and it is never my first instinct to touch the artwork, as most museums and galleries have strict policies about getting too close to the art. Masha said that once you touch the paper you are participating in an act of destruction, and this is her provocation. She isn’t commenting on whether something is “good or bad”, but that “it happens”. That is how it is. The main concept of this piece is about conflict, visual messages, and text. Masha’s fascination with braille began with her fascination with sculpture, as that is another way that allows people to touch artwork. Masha uses the braille to provoke people to touch the artwork.
In braille are quotations from A Report on the Banality of Evil, a book by the philosopher and political thinker Hannah Arendt. Masha’s work meshes paint, text, and philosophy. She described that her artist techniques were a result of how she felt when the war escalated.
Masha’s process allows for research on the way that aggression settles within oneself. The language of inversion enables dynamic exploration. Inversion pushes one to think differently and brings about questions that are new, perhaps even those that may scare the viewer.
In 2023, Masha’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, just ten years after her father passed away from lymphoma. This was the second life factor that affected her work as she began Project Karkinos.
Cancer has deeply impacted Masha’s life and has been a present throughout her family history. She has worked to dissect and explore its impact through her art. Masha created a series of portraits of her mother during the time she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The portraits were based on photographs of her mother when she was in chemotherapy. These paintings were based on images, but they were also inversed, examining how her mother’s life and body was taken over by something else, something dark. Beauty and the vulnerability that comes with it, is also examined through the portraits. Within this series, Masha also painted weeds and other forms of plant life. By depicting tough species that spread quickly, she broadened her exploration of cancer’s presence, using botanical metaphors; mirroring the disease’s persistent growth.
Paintings, such as the one below, project a more ominous feeling within the viewer as they stare into the eyes of the figure. This is intentional. Confronting images of cancer and fear were difficult for Masha, but these images forced her to come face to face with reality, even if it is hard. The work may challenge viewers to come face to face with their own fears. To not avoid the fear, but to discuss it. She said art doesn’t always necessarily need to be beautiful, but offer provocation.
The blues, greens, and cool colored tones that are very present within Masha’s work are inspired by “code blue”. Code blue is most commonly known for recognizing that someone has gone into cardiac or respiratory arrest and that there is an urgent need for care. Her brushstrokes are full of intention and the colors work to create an inversion of color. She got the chance to show me the language of inversion through her iPhone, using the composition section in her camera to invert colors to change how content is displayed on her screen.
Before coming to Pittsburgh Masha had lived in Chicago. I asked her about the art worlds of the two US cities she has spent time in. Masha explained she felt there are a lot of strong artists and masters within the art world in Pittsburgh, a place she has now lived in for more than two years. She said she feels more warm in Pittsburgh, but couldn’t compare the cities because they are just too different.
While in Pittsburgh, Masha began projects and research that look into her family’s past and cultural legacy. Masha’s father was a physicist and mathematician. Her Family History Project uses a book taken from her father’s library titled “Theory of Solid State”. Even though Masha said that she does not understand the mathematics within the book, her lack of understanding works as a metaphor for not fully comprehending her parents and family history. This book explores the roots of her family, holding precious artifacts such as photos, text, blueprints, and locks of her mother’s hair from when she was in cancer treatment.
Masha said that she is trying to explore the history of her family even though she is limited and won’t fully understand until the very end. Some of the figures within the book are “lighthearted and diary-like”, as she described that she drew and wrote things that have happened without any thought. Masha explained that some of the drawings were purely just for fun. The cover of the book is a multi-layered inversion illustration that was based on a photograph of Masha and her sister being pushed in a stroller by their parents. The photo on the cover was a candid shot that was found in a Moscow newspaper. Her perspective here is explored through inversion.
Masha is currently working on finding her identity, which includes a history of her family and the impact that being Russian has had on her. Her aspirations for the next project is first an exploration of her family roots.
As Masha continues to explore her identity she is also exploring Russian cinematography and folklore. Within the text and film regarding these subjects Masha said she has found a lot of aggression. She uses famous images from Russian cinematography to speak through languages of inversion. The inversion is applied to make people think differently about the story at hand, maybe even ones they grew up hearing. Masha also explores the aggression within Russian film and literature through her process of inversion. She said the same process works for both folklore and fairytales. One of the films she is currently sketching is from 1980, titled “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears”. These are her sketches for future work and her next project. She hopes these projects will push people to “start thinking” as she believes artwork is an important tool in the way it speaks to people.
