Young artist S.Tsatsral launched her “In the Depths of Soul” solo exhibition at Mongol Art Gallery from August 20 to 30. It was held within the framework of the second Ulaanbaatar International Fine Arts Festival, organized with support from the Ministry of Culture.

Artist S.Tsatsral graduated from the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture with a bachelor’s degree in Mongol zurag or traditional Mongolian painting under the guidance of teacher S.Ganzam. The young member of the Mongolian Painting Community showcased 22 paintings at her latest solo exhibition.

At glance, the displayed artworks don’t seem to have deep meanings. But if you contemplate for a while, you will see that they reflect the artist’s unique and individual world, depict simple things about the existence of everything. Specifically, S.Tsatsral features women as the essence of her paintings to express the nature of existence. She shows the love and affection between men and women, and the simple but salient things in human life through a combination of colors and lines.

Bright colors of her paintings can evoke radiant feelings. Patterns, shapes, lines and colors that create optical art seem to have found their perfect place and form in each of her paintings. Her subtle personality, expressions and thoughts about the world are reflected in her art.

All paintings in her exhibition were painted on cotton. Artist S.Tsatsral said, “Painting soft and bright colors on cotton gives a deeper impression. Paintings on cotton look remarkable. However, lines are often used to express the content and motivation of Mongol zurag, so painting on this type of material requires a great deal of care and skill. Missing a single line could alterate the overall concept and feeling of the painting. Therefore, I pay maximum attention when I’m painting.”

She says her “Four Seasons” piece took the longest to complete. Apparently she painted it for three whole months. The expression and content of the artwork is intended to reflect the features of seasons, the beauty of women and the essence of nature.

I would like to bring attention to the “Mother” painting from S.Tsatsral’s new collection. The color and pattern of the painting seem to convey that the world has good and bad sides and that the good and the bad are intertwined. The painting depicts a mother holding her “child”, which can be interpreted as Earth, so gently and delicately so as to protect it from harm. Indirectly, it reminds us that as human beings, we must love and protect our planet with the heart of a mother.

The “Dream Encounter” painting depicts both male and female protagonists. Their bodies are covered in forests. S.Tsatsral portrayed a precious connection between a bird sitting on a girl’s hand and a bird nesting in a boy’s right chest. It gives the impression that the two had finally found each other, but it was all a dream. This was artistically illustrated by placing both of their heads in a cloud.

Named after the exhibition, “In the Depths of Soul” painting features a woman with her eyes half-closed and meditating. Her short bob hairstyle makes her look like a modern woman. Her hand gestures signifies enlightenment of the mind and independence from all things in the human world. In other words, it is the creation of bodhichitta. The butterflies flying around her don’t seem to distract her at all. The sight of a few yellow butterflies flying around made the color scheme more interesting, matching the protagonist’s hair color.

Curator of the exhibition and art researcher B.Uchral said, “S.Tsatsral has been releasing new paintings in the form of Mongol zurag every year, but each year she manages to upgrade their content and quality.”

The Ulaanbaatar International Fine Arts Festival aims to support young artists, increase the influence of the fine arts to the society and stimulate art education in the country. It also functions to increase the participation of artists and young art researchers in international art festivals, allow them to exchange experiences and increase cooperation in the field of fine arts.