Girl in blue mask 2018

Editor: Sergey Piskunov's "Girl in blue mask," created in 2018 with oil paint, makes me smile. There's something about the pose, almost theatrical, and the bright blue mask against the stark background… What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ah, yes! That tension between theatricality and intimacy. Piskunov has captured a very contemporary moment of self-care and almost ritualistic beauty. The vibrant mask becomes both a barrier and a form of expression. It reminds me of Cindy Sherman's explorations of identity, but with a Gen Z twist. Editor: Cindy Sherman, interesting! I wouldn’t have made that connection, but I see it. What about the almost… raw emotion of the piece? It doesn’t feel posed in the traditional sense. Curator: Precisely. It feels captured, not constructed, doesn't it? The vulnerability is amplified by the imperfections, the messy mask application, the raw texture of the paint. The contemporary aspect invites us to reflect on the often-performed, but nonetheless very human rituals of beautification and self-presentation. I find myself asking, is this purely for show, or a genuine moment of pleasure? Perhaps both? What do you make of the subject closing her eyes? Editor: I guess that heightens the sense of her being in her own world. It makes it more…personal? Not necessarily erotic. But like, maybe the erotic is, ironically, *self*-love? Curator: A fantastic interpretation! This interplay, the private versus the public, it makes the artwork very potent. It becomes a mirror reflecting back our own relationship with self-image and perhaps a playful comment on social media performativity. I like that connection that you bring, Editor. Editor: Me too. I am not sure I would have gone there myself, but thanks to you this piece suddenly seems a whole lot more…complicated in a good way!