Dmitry Spiros – Artist | Mexico
Artist’s Statement — Dmitry Spiros
My creative path began within the language of Eastern Impressionism—the study of light, color relationships, and mood on canvas.
Over time, my focus shifted from depicting the visible world to creating an emotional architecture within the image itself.
I no longer view the canvas as a window onto reality.
It's a surface of tension—where color fields, texture, and rhythmic ornament interact.
The human presence in my works doesn't function as traditional figuration. It emerges and dissolves within the ornamental structures, becoming part of a larger decorative and emotional system.
I define this evolving language as ornamental expressionism—a movement in contemporary painting where ornament is not decoration but structure; not elegance but energy.
Working primarily with a palette knife, I create multilayered surfaces where controlled spontaneity is combined with rhythmic pattern. The composition develops through repetition, fragmentation, and color intensity.
In my paintings, ornament carries emotion.
Structure engenders feeling.
Surface becomes depth.
— Dmitry Spiros
Who Is Dmitry Spiros?
Dmitry Spiros is a contemporary painter whose work explores surface, rhythm, and emotional structure through color and texture.
His early practice was rooted in impressionistic studies of light and atmosphere. Over time, this investigation of surface evolved into a more structural language in which ornament, repetition, and fragmentation became central elements.
Spiros uses the term Ornamental Expressionism to describe his current approach — a direction in painting where ornament functions not as decoration, but as emotional architecture.
The Female Image
A central focus of his recent work is the exploration of the female presence within the painted field.
The figure does not dominate the composition. It emerges from layered color systems, dissolving into rhythmic structures. Recognition is suggested, but never fixed.
The subject becomes part of a larger ornamental field charged with psychological tension.
Technique
Working primarily with a palette knife, Spiros builds dense, layered surfaces where impasto alternates with controlled flatness.
Light interacts with relief, altering perception depending on distance and angle. From afar, the image stabilizes into presence. Up close, it fractures into fragments of pigment, texture, and movement.
Each painting is constructed through disciplined spontaneity — a balance between control and rupture.
International Presence
Spiros has exhibited internationally since the early 1990s and has built a network of private collectors across Europe, North America, Japan, and the Middle East.
His works are presented on Artsy and held in private collections worldwide.
He currently lives and works in Cancún, Mexico, where Caribbean light continues to influence the chromatic evolution of his palette.
Spiros’ works are held in private collections across Europe, North America, Japan, and the Middle East, and are presented on the platform Artsy.
Dmitry Spiros - Biography, Shows, Articles & More | Artsy
Dmitry Spiros: Ornamental Expressionism
My artistic language evolved from studies of light and atmosphere toward a structural exploration of surface, rhythm, and emotional presence.
Rather than depicting the external world, I construct an internal architecture within the canvas. The human presence in my work is not illustrated — it emerges from tension between color fields, texture, and fragmentation.
I use the term Ornamental Expressionism to describe this approach: a direction in painting where ornament becomes structure and emotional force.
The Architecture of the Image
Form in my work is not defined by outline. It arises from the interaction of layered pigment and chromatic systems.
The face may appear as a point of gravity within the composition, yet it remains unstable — dissolving into the ornamental field from which it emerges.
Surface and depth are not opposites. They operate simultaneously. The mark exists both as independent gesture and as part of a larger rhythmic order.
Color as Structure
Color is not descriptive — it is constructive.
I treat the canvas as an architectural space where:
• Color fields generate rhythm rather than volume.
• Repetition replaces traditional modeling.
• Density and balance create presence without reliance on contour.
The human image manifests through relationships of weight, tension, and vibration.
Technique: Disciplined Spontaneity
Working primarily with a palette knife, and occasionally a brush, I build layered surfaces through a process of controlled freedom.
Texture interrupts smooth illusion and affirms the painting as a physical object — matter shaped by movement and pressure.
From a distance, the image stabilizes into presence.
Up close, it fractures into pigment, relief, and rhythm.
A Contemporary Direction
My evolution is not a rejection of light — it is a reconfiguration of it.
Light no longer describes space; it activates structure.
By integrating ornamental rhythm with chromatic fragmentation, I seek to construct a visual language where emotion is embedded within surface itself.