Untitled 2022

This untitled drawing by Alevtyna Kakhidze is a flurry of graphite pencil and crayon on paper. A figure stands in the center holding signs, a body outlined in simple, almost child-like marks. The signs they hold name conflicts: “Not Iraq”, “Not Aleppo”. I imagine Kakhidze’s hand moving quickly, trying to capture the urgency of the moment. The crayon marks are raw and immediate. The flatness of the colors intensifies the emotions, like a scream. You can almost hear the scratch of the pencil on the paper, the artist’s breath as they work. It feels like she is trying to make sense of these endless conflicts. The drawing reminds me of Nancy Spero’s protest art. It’s art that screams out a message: “and eys… we are mostly not black…” As artists, we speak to one another across time, echoing each other’s fears and hopes. This drawing invites us to participate in a conversation, to reflect on the complexities of war, of pain, and injustice, but also to think of the act of drawing as a way to process complex emotions.