Untitled. Srawberry Andreevna 2019

Curator: I find myself drawn to this piece by Alevtyna Kakhidze, "Untitled. Strawberry Andreevna," created in 2019. It’s a mixed-media collage on paper incorporating drawing and textile elements. What’s your initial reaction? Editor: There's a rawness to it that I appreciate. The handwritten text, combined with what looks like felt cutouts, creates a tactile and immediate impression. It feels almost like a protest sign, or a personal diary entry made public. Curator: That sense of immediacy is powerful. Kakhidze, whose practice often addresses displacement and the experiences of those living in conflict zones, uses collage and drawing to tell complex stories. The text you see are excerpts from bureaucratic documents related to pension payments for internally displaced persons in Ukraine after 2014. Editor: Ah, that context makes the materials even more poignant. The bureaucratic language layered with the handmade aesthetic creates a tension – the coldness of the state versus the lived reality. I'm thinking about the labour involved in navigating these systems, filling out the forms, undergoing endless checks. This really elevates the everyday, highlighting the means of survival of an ordinary individual. Curator: Exactly. The use of acrylic paint and textile adds another layer, creating a visually striking surface, full of layering and imperfections. These imperfections reinforce the human element amidst this stark administrative process. It is the story about endurance with the added touch of "Strawberry Andreevna" to personalize a painful process. Editor: Looking closer, there’s also the almost calligraphic use of different hand-lettering styles. This gives me a renewed respect for folk art, not just as a decorative device, but as a potent mode of record-keeping, of storytelling, of resistance against state oppression and bureaucratic machinery. Curator: It is art deeply rooted in place and circumstance, transformed with accessible material. The combination tells such a compelling story of a life impacted. Editor: Agreed. I'm walking away from this with a renewed sense of how art can illuminate the materials and struggles of displacement with a compelling and beautiful narrative.