Untitled 2022

Alevtyna Kakhidze made this untitled notebook drawing using what looks like pen and coloured pencil. It’s almost like a stream of consciousness, unfiltered. The marks are raw, vulnerable, but also assertive. It's all there on the surface, not trying to hide anything. I feel like I could almost replicate the process if I tried. The lines are thin, scratchy, like she’s digging into the paper, but then there are these pops of colour in the Russian flag and the headgear on the figures, as if there is something to celebrate. The composition is interesting, with the double headed eagle looming over the figures with raised hands, like she is illustrating a story. It reminds me of the work of Philip Guston, especially in the way the artist deploys a simple, almost cartoonish style to address the most serious of themes. The work shows us that art doesn't always need to be polished and refined; sometimes, the most powerful statements are the ones that feel the most immediate.