Alexei Muravsky | Contributor
Featured image: No betta fish were harmed in the making of this collection. | Courtesy of AMPD
Siamese fighting fish, or Betta splendens, commonly known as betta fish, are a highly territorial and aggressive species that live primarily in Southeast Asia.
Fourth-year Visual Arts student Renée Moulelis’ A Collection of Betta Fish exhibit has brought this species’ exciting energy into the fold of The Gales Gallery, located in the Accolade West building at York.
Her inspiration occurred serendipitously, but was acted on with industriousness. It all began when Moulelis came across a few high-resolution images of betta fish. Feeding off of the visual stimulation they evoked, the collection has grown to a series of 30-plus paintings since 2015.
“I was initially drawn to the imagery of betta fish because of the amount of detail I envisioned I’d be able to capture when painting them,” Moulelis explains.
“In the process of creating the large-scale paintings, I noticed that the normally small bettas’ forms and colours started to take on very abstract shapes and spaces.”
Moulelis’ ability to take a magnifying glass to an impossible event in nature—that of a frozen betta fish stuck in time and space—gives viewers a unique opportunity to truly observe and understand its structure.
Several of the fish were aggressively flared, reminding the viewer of their nature, and creating a perplexing juxtaposition between those that seemed to have a calmer demeanour.
However, looks can be deceiving, especially when such beautiful and fluid movements are draped behind the elaborate patterns found in their fins and scales.
The initial intention focused only on creating five large-scale oil paintings, but since then 33 more pieces have joined her body of work, adding a wide variety to the already-dynamic original paintings.
Variety grew from different concepts and with it the materials used to set these concepts up in the public eye. While the entirety of the collection is done in layers of oil paint, these layers are painted over diverse sets of backgrounds, including canvas, plexi-glass, glass, mirrors, and light bulbs.
Live betta fish were also exhibited among the paintings, enabling the viewer to compare the natural with the unnatural, providing a perspective between the living reference and its artistic representation.
Moulelis mentioned that her education at York helped her realize the career options she has as an artist. Her intention after university is to work as a matte painter and texture design artist in movies, and video game development.
She has found classes within her program that point her toward the specific career choice she wishes to pursue.
Her biggest artisitic influence was her high school art teacher—who not only taught her the various technical skills needed to become a professional, but also the mindset necessary to thrive in the industry.
Moulelis encourages other artists to be aggressive when it comes to the production of their art—as well as in critiquing their personal work—in order to be confident that they are producing the best version of their ideas to the public.
The gallery was well-received, due to its hyper-realistic style which tricked viewers into thinking the paintings could be photographs.
Moulelis’ skill is on display with every vibrant swish of a tail, dive, and interaction the fish have.
To muster such a high level of precision and accuracy for such a large volume of work is indeed a feat in and of itself.
