Alex Litovsky's Life and Art (By Roman Litovsky)
March 3, 2020
Alex had two great teachers in the middle school: in English literature and in Art.
The art teacher was Ms. Varga - a petite skinny woman of Hungarian descent who from the day one told all students that they can do great art even if they believe otherwise.Alex was convinced. And from that moment every drawing, painting, sculpture or ceramics design he met with enthusiasm and energy.The culprit of their art class was a huge school wall mural where every student had about 2 square feet of space to put mysterious animals, fish and other objects, different from each other but still joined with the same theme.
All later years Alex was mostly engaged with computers and Internet – to his unique luck his life and Internet one aligned perfectly.But many year later the need to express himself differently led him again to painting.He developed a unique style of complicated imagery, sometimes having realistic shapes, sometimes – abstract, with colorful spectral content, mysterious form and infinite possibilities for the interpretation. He loved animals, especially cats, so he created multiple painting inspired by his four paws friends.These images he printed on the T-shirts as an attempt to create a business.But that was Alex:he created an art and moved ahead. Doing business was not his main passion.
His year long voyage to the Thailand filled him with visions of the very different nature that was reflected in many paintings surprising with energy, sophistication of the line patterns and color palette.
Art was his outlet for mental balance, self-realization and safe harbor for his vulnerable and frequently hurt soul.That save him from insanity during his unhappy life in Maine with long –long winter, snow and cold - both physical and emotional.Puerto Rico felt like a warm paradise – with sun, ocean and slow relaxing life.Alex quickly found that there were many people around him who were also very vulnerable, depressed and in deep pain. That brought all of them together – they were alike!
And Alex proposed his art as a token of a friendship:he brought art supplies, paper and his warm nature to create a community: to make art together, to share time and meals together, to help each other.And Puerto Rico, as we learned, can be both a paradise and a hell, depending on the G’ds wrath.
Many people came to me during my short 3 day visit after Alex tragic incident and expressed deep love to Alex, gratitude for how his life affected theirs, for inspiration and example that such sincere open and fair person can exist and can radiate the warms for all around him – free from any prejudices.
Alex is not with us any more… My heart is torn apart, my dear son is dead.He will not say:hey dad, how are you?And his phone will never ring again.My life will never be the same – I feel sorry and guilty for all what I could but never did enough for Alex.He struggled for his way in life by himself, getting not much help and concealing his deep problems…
I learned my lesson that is as old as life itself, but everyone must discover, sometimes by paying a steep price:give you love to people who you love -now.Tomorrow may be too late.
My only wish is – to swap with Alex our places – he has just started his new life, found the place where he felt at home, found the girl that was kind, smart and worth to be loved and had all to fulfill the wildest dreams that any human may have.Alas, it was cut short on February 24, 2020.
We love you, Alex – you were much better than I appreciated – forgive me for that.I hope - your life will continue in beats and pieces in hundreds of people who you met, inspired, encouraged and enlightened.
Rest in peace, our dear son Alex Litovsky!
The art teacher was Ms. Varga - a petite skinny woman of Hungarian descent who from the day one told all students that they can do great art even if they believe otherwise.Alex was convinced. And from that moment every drawing, painting, sculpture or ceramics design he met with enthusiasm and energy.The culprit of their art class was a huge school wall mural where every student had about 2 square feet of space to put mysterious animals, fish and other objects, different from each other but still joined with the same theme.
All later years Alex was mostly engaged with computers and Internet – to his unique luck his life and Internet one aligned perfectly.But many year later the need to express himself differently led him again to painting.He developed a unique style of complicated imagery, sometimes having realistic shapes, sometimes – abstract, with colorful spectral content, mysterious form and infinite possibilities for the interpretation. He loved animals, especially cats, so he created multiple painting inspired by his four paws friends.These images he printed on the T-shirts as an attempt to create a business.But that was Alex:he created an art and moved ahead. Doing business was not his main passion.
His year long voyage to the Thailand filled him with visions of the very different nature that was reflected in many paintings surprising with energy, sophistication of the line patterns and color palette.
Art was his outlet for mental balance, self-realization and safe harbor for his vulnerable and frequently hurt soul.That save him from insanity during his unhappy life in Maine with long –long winter, snow and cold - both physical and emotional.Puerto Rico felt like a warm paradise – with sun, ocean and slow relaxing life.Alex quickly found that there were many people around him who were also very vulnerable, depressed and in deep pain. That brought all of them together – they were alike!
And Alex proposed his art as a token of a friendship:he brought art supplies, paper and his warm nature to create a community: to make art together, to share time and meals together, to help each other.And Puerto Rico, as we learned, can be both a paradise and a hell, depending on the G’ds wrath.
Many people came to me during my short 3 day visit after Alex tragic incident and expressed deep love to Alex, gratitude for how his life affected theirs, for inspiration and example that such sincere open and fair person can exist and can radiate the warms for all around him – free from any prejudices.
Alex is not with us any more… My heart is torn apart, my dear son is dead.He will not say:hey dad, how are you?And his phone will never ring again.My life will never be the same – I feel sorry and guilty for all what I could but never did enough for Alex.He struggled for his way in life by himself, getting not much help and concealing his deep problems…
I learned my lesson that is as old as life itself, but everyone must discover, sometimes by paying a steep price:give you love to people who you love -now.Tomorrow may be too late.
My only wish is – to swap with Alex our places – he has just started his new life, found the place where he felt at home, found the girl that was kind, smart and worth to be loved and had all to fulfill the wildest dreams that any human may have.Alas, it was cut short on February 24, 2020.
We love you, Alex – you were much better than I appreciated – forgive me for that.I hope - your life will continue in beats and pieces in hundreds of people who you met, inspired, encouraged and enlightened.
Rest in peace, our dear son Alex Litovsky!
