Sketch of the Mosaic Panel 'Scheme of World Structure' for the Exterior Design of the Ternopil Cotton Mill 1974

Valerii Lamakh made this sketch for a mosaic panel, probably in the 1960s, using gouache or tempera on paper. It's a design, so it's not about brushstrokes, but more about the planning that goes into a big project. Look at how flat everything is, like the blocks of color in a stained-glass window. The color palette is muted and earthy, but the figure is wearing an eye-catching pale green overall. There's something utopian about the image, like a propaganda poster, but softened with a kind of folk art sensibility. The texture is smooth, but you can see the grain of the paper coming through, which adds a bit of grit and authenticity. The figure holds a rectangular form. Perhaps this is the form of a building block, an element of mosaic, or even a tool that this woman is using to construct this new world. Like Fernand Leger, Lamakh turns working-class figures into monumental forms, showing how the human and machine work together to imagine the future. Ultimately, it remains a sketch, pregnant with unrealized possibilities.