The death of the tractor operator (back side) 1990

Curator: Oleg Holosiy's piece, "The death of the tractor operator (back side)," executed in 1990, immediately strikes me. The mixed-media, mainly acrylic paint, lends the composition an unsettling presence. Editor: Unsettling is the perfect word! My initial reaction is one of bewilderment mixed with a distinct unease. The bright pink frame against the muddied figures evokes feelings of being out of place or being watched. Curator: Yes, the work's dreamlike, surreal quality cannot be overlooked. Holosiy employs figuration, with abstract representations that almost seem like visual symbols drawn from cultural memory. Take, for instance, the recurrent animal motifs that could reference symbolic bestiaries and primordial imagery. Editor: Right, the animal representations superimposed onto these ambiguous figural elements seem almost allegorical, and that’s complicated. Given the backdrop of 1990 and the collapsing Soviet Union, could this “tractor operator” represent the failure of utopian agricultural ideals? The animal figures seem disconnected, almost mournful, displaced. Curator: That’s certainly a strong reading through a post-Soviet lens. I see the "death" in the title less literally. Perhaps the operator represents a transformation or a dissolution. Consider the symbolism behind tractor. They represented so much during the Bolshevik Revolution! Holosiy may explore deeper anxieties relating to modernity. Editor: That makes me reconsider my earlier feelings about disorientation in terms of symbolic deconstruction, questioning the very notion of "progress" tied to these historical tractors and collective farms that once fueled national pride. In other words, has so-called progress turned out to be regressive, even destructive? Curator: I see it as the loss of certainty. Consider the dripping paint used on one of the face images. Isn’t it referencing disintegration, fragmentation? This reflects psychological states, hinting at inner turmoil as old structures are challenged and perhaps ultimately replaced? Editor: And there is that open window that both reveals and conceals. Holosiy pushes the viewer to confront the complex anxieties of shifting identities against a backdrop of a changing political landscape, perhaps with few solid answers. It remains open for reinterpretation. Curator: Absolutely, a haunting and effective statement indeed! I will surely remember it after our talk. Editor: Indeed! I appreciate that "bewilderment" can be generative!