The Victory Banner. A Sketch for Mosaic in Krasnodon (made in Cooperation with Victor Smirnov and Victor Zaretsky) 1968

Alla Horska, along with Victor Smirnov and Victor Zaretsky, made this sketch for a mosaic in Krasnodon. Look at the angular forms that define these figures. It’s as if Horska is building the image up from shards of colored glass – appropriate, given that it's a sketch for a mosaic. But even here on the flat surface, there’s a real sense of texture and depth. It’s like she’s not just depicting a scene, but constructing a world, piece by piece. I keep coming back to that figure on the left, bent backward, almost broken. The way Horska uses those cool blues and greens to define the planes of the body, it's dynamic and disturbing. The fractured figure is a reminder that victory is never without cost. I’m reminded of Fernand Léger, with his bold, geometric forms and his focus on the figure in the urban landscape. But where Léger's figures often feel monumental and static, Horska’s have a raw, almost desperate energy. It’s a powerful reminder that art is always a conversation, an ongoing process of call and response.