Untitled. Srawberry Andreevna 2019

Curator: Alevtyna Kakhidze created this untitled drawing, "Strawberry Andreevna," in 2019, employing ink on paper. What is your initial take? Editor: The composition strikes me immediately. It’s stark. Red and black ink dominate a white plane. The feeling is unsettling, a sense of displacement and fragmented narrative. Curator: The work features an almost childlike execution, the hand-lettering contrasting with carefully delineated shapes and figures. Note the use of distinct sections separated by stark lines. The artist juxtaposes images, almost like a graphic novel. Editor: I am struck by the symbolism and its direct connection to social and political issues, given the use of the Ukrainian flag motifs, and, judging by the context of the hand lettering, it may be about war, displaced populations, bureaucracy. Curator: We could analyse it structurally by paying attention to formal contrasts—between text and image, for example, or between solid and empty forms—with the use of the figures as signifiers and the broader image to encode concepts. Editor: But that seems rather neutral, even sanitized. A critical perspective situates the work within Ukraine's socio-political landscape in 2019 and invites questions about identity, resilience, and perhaps displacement, which continues to intensify now. There is definitely some critique of the relationship between the establishment (indicated as "Ministry of Social Policies" in Ukrainian) and the people. Curator: Indeed. It's fascinating how Kakhidze harnesses a deliberately naïve style to grapple with complex, urgent subjects. Its raw form amplifies, rather than diminishes, its communicative impact. Editor: I agree. And it’s that deliberate "rawness" or directness, married to cultural and political markers, that gives it its weight and allows to explore its cultural depth.