This film presents an intimate portrait of the artist, Masha Archer, as she explores her own artistic inspirations and origins. The viewer goes on a privileged journey through Masha’s life, meeting the people who enrich her world, learning about the history that has informed her oeuvre. As described in the film by a collector of her work, “(Masha’s jewelry is) an exotic blend of old and new… arranged to respond to the movements of the body … (so that) the jewelry becomes an extension of the personality.”
Masha’s visit to the city of her birth, Kiev, is the centerpiece of this film. The viewer learns of Masha’s Ukrainian origins, and how the artistic practice of her parents led her to explore her own impulses as an artist. As Masha states: “My work is really an outgrowth of what I learned from them.”
The film illustrates how Masha’s artistic passions extend beyond jewelry making to a multitude of artistic expressions, including painting, fashion design, and belly dancing. The viewer learns that for Masha there is a harmony amongst all of her artistic interests, which ultimately arise out of a desire to decorate the body with living, wearable art. Masha’s passion for music and the opera is a clear source of inspiration for her as well. Masha discusses how she works to achieve a harmony and rhythm in the arrangement of color in her pieces. Lofti Mansouri, San Francisco Opera Artistic Director, describes Masha’s jewelry as “very operatic” because of its grandeur and bold use of color.
In the film, Masha visits many of the important figures in the arts who have supported her endeavors, including Margaret Lesher, sculptors Anatole Bilokur and Pyotr Kapshuchenko, art historian Irina Blumina, collector Olenna Fesczaizk, and actress Raissa Nedashkivska. Theater director Roman Viktiuk eloquently sums up Masha’s achievements as an artist: “only a person who so finely feels the harmony of the earth and heavens can so wonderfully create these amazing theatrical compositions.”
