Untitled. Srawberry Andreevna 2015

Alevtyna Kakhidze made these drawings on paper, likely during or shortly after the events they depict. The materials are deliberately simple: paper and pen, the stuff of everyday communication. But the content is anything but. These scraps of paper report on military actions in the artist’s region, including the dates and duration of enforced confinement in bomb shelters. The urgency of the situation is emphasized by the quick, unpolished quality of the marks. It’s almost as though Kakhidze grabbed the first materials to hand, knowing the importance of bearing witness. There is a lot of work implied by these simple drawings. Both in the experience they document, and the artist’s determination to create a record of this time. While it’s easy to think of “art” as something elevated and set apart from ordinary life, this work shows how powerfully those categories can be brought together.