Untitled 2022

Curator: What a stark image, isn’t it? We are looking at a drawing from 2022 by Alevtyna Kakhidze, simply titled "Untitled." It's ink on paper. Editor: Yes, immediately my eyes are drawn to the stick figures. Their open arms, like they are awaiting something, or perhaps surrendering, but there's also a vacant look. There's a disquieting fragility in their simplicity, isn’t there? Curator: Absolutely. The crudeness of the figures juxtaposed with the very real, visceral impact of the implied violence… the buildings like little boxes are burning in the scene. It reminds me a bit of Social Realism, in its unflinching gaze at the realities of society. Editor: The burning buildings really puncture the idyll, don't they? Those smoking, charred symbols evoke memories of destruction we've seen across news and history, particularly related to places enduring immense hardship, such as Ukraine. Curator: Precisely. Kakhidze uses stark imagery: are they bombs, or meteorites? And there's that handwritten text, which makes the piece deeply personal, it states in English "Ukrainians who are just left in homes", with “Russian roulette” written in Russian below. Editor: It's potent, that jumble of languages. Using “Russian roulette”, you get this awful collision of cultures, of power, and fatalism, while the houses offer a primal symbol, resonating through cultural memory, reminding us that “home” represents safety and heritage, now cruelly threatened. Curator: The whole composition reads like a modern-day memento mori; an appeal against the temporality and devastation of conflict. It uses childish drawings, contrasting starkly with the grown-up concept. Editor: It’s raw vulnerability on display. It feels important to acknowledge that unease. The drawing reminds us how vital visual narratives are in confronting and processing collective traumas and understanding our present moment. Curator: It's almost a protest, shouted from the rooftop using just a bit of ink and paper, and it captures so much of the truth that is the reality now. It will certainly stick with you long after you leave. Editor: Absolutely. Its simplicity allows direct communication of such an emotion that speaks of an entire geopolitical situation. We feel that stark naked exposure; nothing masks that deep vulnerability and those exposed realities.