Untitled 2022

Curator: Look at this piece, simply titled "Untitled," a 2022 work by Alevtyna Kakhidze. It’s rendered in ink on paper. What are your first impressions? Editor: Well, it strikes me as both vulnerable and clever, almost a visual diary entry. I love the sketchy quality and the sense of immediate, raw thought. Like peering into someone’s stream of consciousness. Curator: The medium here is very important. Ink, the immediate gesture of the hand, paper... these are readily available materials. I'm fascinated by how this aesthetic resonates within the wider social context of limited resources, particularly within contemporary Ukrainian art-making. It speaks volumes about access, about what is essential in the act of creation. Editor: Absolutely. There’s something intensely personal about seeing art created with such fundamental means. It feels less like a finished masterpiece and more like a glimpse into the artist's inner world, anxieties, and observations – and, I find myself asking what narrative is in this “sketchwork.” It’s scribbled words and simple portraits, and then *wham*, it’s rocket fire! I guess. The "artist's inner world, anxieties, and observations" makes for art, in this case. I’d really love to read those frantic letters, even as images. Curator: I agree. And consider that, within the confines of imposed restriction, there is ingenuity and defiant articulation! The labor implied in these lines, rendered hastily with affordable materials, actively rejects any formal barrier between "high art" and everyday experience, wouldn't you agree? Editor: I love how accessible it feels because of that. Like a postcard from a friend rather than a pronouncement from the art world’s peak. Curator: Yes! It highlights not just the artist’s subjective state, but also comments on the material conditions that underpin artistic expression in times of crises. It speaks of urgency, immediacy and questions how limitations, constraints and dire events shape an artist’s language. Editor: I love it, knowing now how this single drawing speaks to broader issues; it gives the piece so much more power, to speak plainly! I feel lucky to hear art spoken plainly from you and so hope audiences do too. Curator: And I'm left thinking about the power of constraints to actually fuel, rather than inhibit, creative energy.