Untitled 2022

Alevtyna Kakhidze made this untitled work with ink and marker on paper, maybe in her studio, or a corner of the kitchen table. Look at those lines—so direct and unfussy. I’m imagining Alevtyna drawing this, quickly, intuitively. I see the character with their confident stance, suit and purposeful line leading to a prone figure. Then, a bold blob of red—a dark sense of humor. The question written in Ukrainian adds another layer of meaning to the composition. The figures are drawn with minimal lines, which manages to be both funny and deeply unsettling. The tension between the simplicity of the medium and the loaded subject matter—mortality, maybe revenge—is interesting to me. It reminds me of the work of William Steig. There's something so direct and confident in the way she lays down the ink. It reminds me that painting is a conversation, a way of seeing and thinking that continues across time and place.