Painting Flight of the Discus Fish, artist Oleksandr Yatsenko

• Artist: Oleksandr Yatsenko
• Title: "Flight of the Discus Fish"
• Year: 2024
• Size: 135 × 135 cm
• Materials: oil on canvas
• Original hand-painted artwork

The square painting Flight of the Discus Fish shows a school of round tropical discus fish that seem to soar through the water. Large fish occupy the upper part of the canvas, the right edge and the lower left corner, while smaller and tiny ones are scattered between them, receding into the depth. They all face different directions, their bodies and fins overlapping here and there to form a moving round dance. Each fish is outlined in dark blue, and many have a clearly visible shiny dark eye. The difference in scale creates a sense of depth: the large discus fish seem to swim right next to the viewer, while the small ones fade into the distance.

The canvas is painted in oil. The bodies of the fish are worked up with dense impasto strokes of many colours — orange, turquoise, green, pink — that interweave like a pattern of scales and give a relief, almost sculptural surface. The background, by contrast, is made of even rows of small elongated strokes resembling mosaic masonry or the shimmering ripple of water. This opposition of thick texture and a calm, rhythmic background makes the fish stand out especially boldly.

The palette is rich and contrasting: fiery orange and coral patches sit next to emerald, turquoise and blue. The background is kept in deep violet, plum and purple tones, against which the bright fish glow like gemstones. The mood of the work is festive and dynamic, full of movement and play of colour, like a look into a tropical aquarium through the lens of decorative painting.

Oleksandr Yatsenko is a Ukrainian artist working in symbolism, abstract and decorative painting. He combines traditional oil painting with elements of mosaic, graphics, pointillism and ornament. His manner is built on the contrast between dense relief texture and fine, almost graphic detail, and animals, plants and sea creatures are among his recurring images.

The square 135 × 135 cm format allows the painting to hang above a sofa in the living room, on a free wall in a hallway or in an office lounge area. The deep violet background pairs well with dark and graphite walls, while the orange and turquoise accents can be echoed in textiles and furniture. The work will be a fine gift for a lover of aquariums and the underwater world, as well as for a colleague or partner who appreciates vivid contemporary painting.