Anzhela Razmanova’s paintings are full of color, eclecticism, and life. She experiments with different genres, including appliqués made of old homespun fabric. Her paintings are polyphonic, characterized by plasticity, imbued with ethnographic motifs, and inspired by a search for her roots. In her work, Anzhela Razmanova engages in an open dialogue with her favorite artist, Wassily Kandinsky.

“Wedding in Onezhye” is a painting that marked the beginning of the artist’s travels around her homeland. Anzhela Razmanova commented, “Having lived in the Republic of Komi most of my adult life, I knew almost nothing about the region. And then, all of a sudden, I became aware of it all. How wonderful is the church by the riverbank in the Onezhye village! The painting with the wedding has several layers of meaning. The groom walks on one side, and the bride on the other. A lion, a fierce animal, is between them. This painting is about the purity of the soul which makes even a predator humble.”

Anzhela Razmanova has often depicted Onezhye in her paintings. Dmitry and Irina Alekseyev, artists from Ukhta, founded an art space in the neighboring village of Kozlovka. The new platform hosted two visual art plein airs titled “Klyukva” (“Cranberry”) curated by Anzhela Razmanova.

In this painting, Onezhye is depicted during the golden autumn. The composition, color palette, and lighting are dominated by the Church of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is a majestic five-domed Orthodox church with a bell tower. It was built in the mid-19th century on top of a hill in a bend of the Vym River. The patronal festival of the church, the Nativity of Mary, is celebrated on September 21. Traditionally, by that time the peasants would finish most agricultural work, and weddings could be organized in villages.

The artist learned about local wedding traditions from the village’s elderly residents. Legend has it that in the olden days, there was a custom in Onezhye: when the bride and groom went to the church on their wedding day, they approached the building from opposite sides, climbed the stairs separately, and met at the entrance to the Main Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Like the Nativity of Mary marks the beginning of a new liturgical year, the wedding turns a new page in the book of life of two people who love each other.