Untitled. Srawberry Andreevna 2019

Curator: Alevtyna Kakhidze created this drawing in 2019, it is called "Untitled. Strawberry Andreevna". It is part of the figurative drawings and, well, has a comic strip feel to it. Editor: Immediately, the cartoonish, almost childlike style strikes me. But beneath the surface, there's something quietly haunting in the depiction of the person beside what could be bars, no? Curator: Absolutely, that tension is exactly what Kakhidze evokes. While appearing simple, her drawings use flat colors and are seemingly welcoming and illustrative but can confront societal constraints and confinement through these "cartoon caricature" like figures. It also looks like a jail setting... Or is it? What do you think about it? Editor: The bars are so stark against the figure's vulnerability. The words next to them "My Mother" make it all the more poignant. This drawing invites us to question freedom, family, and the unseen boundaries in both our own lives and that of the individual. How far removed it is from the typical comic strip style! I understand this may look like simple cartoons, but there are worlds under the surface of this drawing... Curator: Agreed. There’s a tension between the simplicity and the gravity of the message that draws me to her works, that she manages to deliver such weighty topics, family separation maybe, using minimal lines. Editor: This drawing will remain a lingering question. In a time when the lines are more defined than ever between what is freedom and what isn't. It will definitely make you stop and think about your "Mother" in this current social and institutional climate... Curator: The emotional tug-of-war between stark reality and artistic simplicity invites reflection. Thanks for taking this introspective plunge with me!