PERFORMANCE

RITUAL

Tactile performance
May 2015

A ritual is an action expressed in theatrical form, an expression of faith or belonging to one or another dogma. Regardless of whether your faith is religious in nature or not. The ritual, the same rite, can be performed during scientific research, during laboratory research, passing exams or funerals, births and prayers. It is just a set of certain repetitive actions.

The performance is a reflection of the essence of the ritual. Regardless of the purpose, and despite its widespread use, ritual is always something personal. When you join the ranks of university students, when you participate in parades, treat your hands with antiseptic before moving on to examining samples, when you walk in a religious procession or bow towards Mecca — you are always alone with yourself. Even if a ritual has a widespread purpose, true ritual has personal meaning for the participants.

When touching the Western Wall or lighting a candle in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, personal experiences are much more important to you than the original purpose of the ritual. On the one hand, this is an absolute loss of the initial meaning of the ritual, on the other hand, it is its repeated strengthening.

The artist came up with this ritual personally for each participant, and offers to share it with him. You can put absolutely any meaning into the sequence of actions given below; the essence of the performance is the search for the grain of the ritual, namely faith. The starting point of the ritual is tactile contact, that part of our reality that usually remains on the sidelines and is underestimated by us during communication.

HANDS

Video performance
2015

A series of video performances reveals the sensual nature of touch.

Through action, the artist demonstrates how people influence each other during close communication. Six videos present different relationships from experiences alone to interaction with the environment. We fall in love, share secrets, quarrel, hurt each other, make peace. Each performance is a separate relationship, sensual and heartfelt.

The hands opposite are not random passers-by. For each performance, the artist chose a loved one: a sister, a spiritual friend, a like-minded person, a lover or love. By watching these hands, you can feel the whole palette of the artist’s feelings towards these people, and rediscover the familiar stories behind the acquaintances.

HEARTBEAT

Videoart
2016

The series of video art is based on a retelling of the artist’s matured view of the city of her childhood.

The background is motionless: these are temples, landscapes and monolithic buildings. The foreground is a black translucent canvas developing in the center of the frame. The canvas is a reflection of author’s personality. The videos were filmed in the artist’s hometown, Vladimir, the historical capital of Russia, whose landscape is dotted with white-stone churches adjacent to faceless panel houses. The sounds collected into a musical heartbeat are recorded in the studio using various musical instruments and household items.