“In one of her publications, Halina Horava claims that ‘the artistic form of an easel painting is ideal
by its definition, as it involves a complex mental process of transferring flat spots of paint into a qualitatively
different dimension’. Her paintings should be considered a good attempt to illustrate this thesis.”
Petra Vasileuski, fine art expert
“In accordance with the scientific data provided by the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration),
combining her own ideas and fiction, Halina Horava created the paintings that allow one to study not only the author’s visual style
and original colors but also astronomy.”
Alena Mastserava, journalist
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and its physical characteristics resemble the Moon. Its surface is heavily excavated by craters.
Escarpments — jagged slopes — are an important feature of Mercury’s mountainous landscapes.
Venus is the second inner planet of the Solar System. Thick clouds of sulfuric acid create a “greenhouse effect”
on the planet. Giant hurricanes rage there and one can hardly see the surface of the planet through the thick
red and orange clouds. The impact craters we see in the painting are rather rare elements of the Venusian
landscape. The craters are filled with lava.
“An amazing landscape is presented under the title “Earth. Dawn in the Solar System”. A small piece of land
is painted red and orange, there is a church tower on the horizon, and beyond the horizon we see a way
to the Universe.”
Alena Mastserava, journalist
Mars is often described as the “Red Planet” because of its red hue. Mars gets such an appearance from
the iron oxide in its dust. The distinctive features of the surface of Mars are impact craters, volcanoes, deserts,
and valleys. Moreover, there are many geological features resembling the beds of dried-up rivers on the planet.
Terraforming is a purposeful process of engineering the climatic conditions of other planets through the
manipulation of its atmosphere and temperature to make them suitable for human, animal and plant life.
It’s possible that terraforming will become a project of our future, a prospect of human survival and development
under the sky of another planet. If Mars is that very planet, the first settlers will never be able to return to Earth.
In this case, Mars red sands and rapid Phobos passing through celestial zenith might become a familiar sight
for them and their children.
There are more than one hundred mountains and about four hundred active volcanoes on Io, Jupiter’s moon.
It is the most geologically active moon in the Solar System. Volcanic ash and lava streams constantly change
the surface of Io and color it in various shades of yellow, white, red, green and black.
Titan is Saturn’s largest moon. It is the only object in the Solar System other than Earth that is definitely
known to have liquids on its surface. The dense atmosphere surrounding Titan consists of nitrogen, methane
and ethane. These gases form thick orange clouds floating over the rivers and lakes of methane.
Neptune is the eighth and most distant planet in the Solar System. It is often called an “ice giant”. The
atmosphere of this planet consists mainly of hydrogen, helium, and methane. Methane in the upper atmosphere
absorbs red light, giving Neptune’s atmosphere its bright blue color.
“Jupiter’s moon Io is multi-colored due to its volcanic activity. Neptune has the most beautiful,
sea-green atmosphere. And do you know what color our planet glows in space? Yes, it glows blue.
And we do see this magic glow in the painting Earth-Glow.”
Alena Mastserava, journalist