Dmitry’s most recent series, titled “The Mirror of the Soul,” is exclusively centered around the image of a human eye, which brings to mind an extensive iconography in art history from ancient Egypt times to nowadays. To emphasize two major characteristics of Grechko’s series, it is worth noting two major examples: René Magritte’s “The False Mirror” (1929) and Salvador Dali’s “The Eye” (1945), created as a sketch for Alfred Hitchcock’s movie. The first is more important to us on a conceptual level, while the second on a pictorial one. 

Despite its provocative title, Magritte’s work, in its conceptual framework, is pretty much close to Grechko’s own explanation of his series: “The human eye, often revered as the window to the soul, transcends its physiological function as a visual organ to become a profound symbol of emotion, connection, and inner truth.” Man Ray, another surrealist artist, who once owned Magritte’s “False Mirror,” described it as “a painting that sees as much as it itself is seen.” In this regard, it is worth mentioning that Grechko’s paintings in all their diversity primarily differ from one another on an emotional level, possibly reflecting a painting’s reaction to the encounter with a viewer.

As for Dali’s work, it introduces the image of an eye floating in a desolate landscape, but what stands out most is that it seems to be ‘weeping’ with streaks of dripping paint, a motif that is also present in many of Grechko’s paintings from “The Mirror of the Soul” series, which brings us to its most intriguing characteristic, the technique. The works are painted large-scale with heavy impasto, bold drips, and an expressive color field that sometimes reminds Gerhard Richter’s abstractions. While at first glance they look similar, the details in brushwork, palette, and rhythm set them apart. The artist works with a limited yet striking palette, creating both harmony and tension. Each canvas feels simultaneously intimate and monumental: the gaze confronts the viewer while the loose painterly handling dissolves the form into raw emotion.

The brushstrokes are broad and sculptural, especially in the whites around the eye, which are thickly applied with a palette knife. Vertical drips of paint often streak downward, suggesting tears or rain, reinforcing a sense of emotional intensity. The lashes are rendered with sweeping, decisive strokes of black paint that stand out in relief. Each canvas magnifies the eye into a powerful symbol, where layered textures, vivid drips, and bold color fields capture shifting states of emotion. Through this recurring motif, the artist transforms the act of looking into an encounter with vulnerability, intensity, and the raw depth of inner life.

This technique that blends precision (in the iris and lashes) with spontaneity (in the abstract backgrounds), produces a dialogue between control and chaos, which is also present in the “Eternal Inspiration” series (2022). The artist turns from the singular gaze of the eye to the broader language of the human face, portraying female figures as “timeless muses.” The treatment of female images balances between the aerial and expressive aesthetics of Nikolai Fechin and the more brutal attitude of Jenny Saville. Grechko’s “Spirit of the Plains” (2023) series, along with earlier standalone works, reveals that his artistic roots lie more in the traditions of late 19th and early 20th century painting than in contemporary visual trends.

The women are rendered with contemplative expressions, while the heavy brushwork and layered textures imbue each portrait with movement. Together, these works capture the enduring idea of woman as both inspiration and mirror of emotional depth — at once fragile, strong, and profoundly human. 

In both “The Mirror of the Soul” and “Eternal Inspiration” series, Grechko reimagines beauty through layering, deliberate imperfection, and distortion that sometimes remind of digital glitching effect. Eyes and faces emerge from torrents of dripping paint and fractured brushstrokes, at once alluring and unsettled. By merging precision with expressive chaos, Grechko’s paintings become meditations on beauty, fragility, and inner life. Whether through the haunting gaze of an eye or the contemplative presence of a muse, his art transforms the act of looking into a profound experience of seeing and being seen.