Untitled 2022

Alevtyna Kakhidze made this untitled work with ink on paper, and it really strikes me as a kind of visual diary entry. I'm drawn to the raw quality of the lines – they are so immediate, like a thought caught in ink. The figure almost floats on the page, a few lines delineating the body and clothing. That little spot of red, like a burst of feeling, really grabs my attention. The text in Ukrainian adds another layer, something about wanting to kill a neighbor for preventing sleep? It brings this whole feeling of unease into the work, but the light touch of the drawing keeps it playful, too. Kakhidze’s drawings often have this blend of the personal and the political, a diaristic approach meets social commentary. It reminds me of David Shrigley, with its dark humor and deceptively simple style. It’s a powerful reminder that art doesn’t always need to be polished to be profound.