Victor Colesnicenco grew up in Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova. This Eastern European nation is known for its rich artistic heritage. Nemo, as he is known to his friends, remembers being fascinated by the carvings and other craftworks that surrounded him. He particularly loved paintings and from an early age, he was determined to become an artist. Nemo began an intense inquiry into the style and techniques of the famous painters. He was especially impressed by the work of Ivan Shishkin and Salvador Dali. He enrolled in art school but did not enjoy the strict academic style of the Russian based academy. Knowing that a standard education was not for him, he abandoned it to pursue training on his own. His talent quickly flourished and soon he was organizing large outdoor art fairs to show his work and that of other young artists. At this point in his life, Nemo enlisted in the Soviet Army where he served for two years. After completing his tour, his motivation to become a professional artist was rediscovered. Together with a good friend, he started a business restoring works of art and painting murals in churches. The reemergence of religious freedom in the post-Soviet era offered many opportunities for their business to flourish. Moving from city to towns throughout the countryside inspired a desire for further travel and Nemo took an opportunity to immigrate to Canada. His family decided to settle just north of Toronto, Ontario. To Nemo, Canada is a gateway to the world. From his new home, he can freely explore places all over the globe. The prevalent theme in Nemo’s work is travel and the discovery of the beauty and excitement of new places. He sometimes paints natural depictions of scenic locales or he fuses varying cities to create his own unique cityscapes. His fused or constructed cities seem to offer the viewer the opportunity to visit many places at once. It is not surprising that when he is not painting. Nemo enjoys many outdoor activities, especially fishing and cycling. His work is widely collected and is represented in galleries throughout Canada and the USA.

Technique

Multi-media and mixed media are terms that have to be used when examining Nemo’s art. He can and often does work in a very traditional style. Using both oils and acrylics he creates paintings with a Plein-air feel. He can capture the light and feel of a place and impart that feeling to the viewer. Nemo is also constantly investigating and developing new techniques. His international cityscape series is an innovative style combining photography, printing, and painting. Through printing and subsequent pasting of his photographs; he then paints with acrylics and glazes to construct a fused and somewhat surreal vision of different cities. The charm and mood of famous cities are combined to create a dreamlike memory of time and space.