Each creative person finds their inspiration in love. Respect and admiration for the mother and love for a woman’s beauty originate the best works by poets, writers and artists.

In Yerbolat Tolepbay’s First Love a girl who is in love is dancing, dizzy with happiness. Her arms with tender fingers are open to the rhythm of music. She’s ready to tell the entire world about her first feeling of love. Women are the main characters of Tolepbay’s paintings. The artist tries to convey their feelings and understand the mysteries of their souls.

This year’s exhibition is dedicated to the 100th anniversary from the birth of the artist’s mother Uldar. A healer from her young years, she also could listen to people’s concerns, desires and dreams and give them a hearty advice. Brought up by his respected mother, the artist is more interested in the inner world of his characters than their outer images.

Yerbolat Tolepbay says, “When I paint I feel blood pulsing in my fingers and brush. I begin an inner dialogue with the women I paint – aul mothers and young girls. Their images help me to select colours.”

His Steppe Madonna shows a mother in a blue background. She’s a mistress of her hearth and a support to people, embracing the joy of life. Her happy mother’s face and the child’s smile tell us about the artist’s attitude. The mother with the child in her arms is immersed in thinking about the future. She’s nursing not only her child, but the entire world around her.

Yerbolat Tolepbay pays great attention to arms and hands: an open palm, thin fingers, a handshake, embraces and all other possible gestures… A human being creates both good and evil with their hands. Women’s hands painted by the artist cannot do evil. A woman is rocking a cradle with her one hand and the entire world with the other.

Another peculiarity is the open door. One can see everything inside and outside a yurt. This door reminds of the two sides of being, or the soul of a Kazakh, which is as vast as the steppe. It may convey the idea of transition from the old to the new, to freedom and independence. Or, a talk between women with the door open. They chat about something but their thoughts are far. Whatever is the conversation, they are still thinking about some other important things to do.
A woman’s soul is an enigma. Each woman is a separate world with its sacred mystery that cannot be solved. This mysterious world attracts the artist.

The colours are fascinating. Even the most dull and obscure themes are filled with light tones. The abundance and re-use of colours do not diminish the space, but expand it. The outer appearance and inner condition of the characters are conveyed in a light and charming manner. However, to understand what the painter thinks and feels one should look attentively at his works and feel the invisible link between the real person and their painted image in order to see how they complement each other and open an entire world to a viewer, and to understand that the painter’s brush has created a miracle.

Ainur KENJAKULOVA
Junior Researcher, Arts Division
Mukhtar Auezov Institute of Literature and Arts