Painting by Olena Koliesnik

Is it possible to win a battle where your only opponent is yourself? When the numbness wears off, the reptilian reaction of “fight” awakens — a looped action, round after round. These six works (“Around 4:00 PM,” “Around 6:00 PM,” “Around 7:00 PM,” “Around 10:00 PM,” “Around 12:00 PM,” “Around 12:00 AM,” “Around 1:00 AM”) are a chronicle of daily tension. They were created in Poland on coarse-grained paper, co-authored by Olena Kolesnik: its aggressive texture physically resisted the paint, withstanding the concept of psychological resistance. At the center of each canvas, as if deformed by blows from the inside, is a circle. The hero is stuck in attempts to break through the boundary of his own bubble of ideas. However, his shadow — thin as a needle — penetrates through the barriers through diffusion, disintegrating into red spots in the chaos of a multi-colored world. “The shadow is free. The hero is not,” states the author, raising the question of the conventionality of freedom. The placement of the works in a 3×2 grid turns on the cinematic movement of time, which is not present in each picture separately. It is a single code, an object for a space of contemplation and honesty. The works are not sold separately. Although the installation is available only as a single whole, the author suggests a scenario where these six parts then become a common code for six different people: business partners, friends, family members, community. In this case, the division does not blur the meaning, but makes it deeper as a connection of those people across the distance. 2023–2024, Poland. ARCHES paper, Rough texture (coarse grain), 300 g/m². Size of each work: 31 × 41 cm. The total size of the installation in space depends on the design. Without design 93 × 82 cm. Poland The works “Attack” are part of Olena Kolesnik’s conceptual series “Solomon’s Paradox”. The entire series “Solomon’s Paradox” is 18 works created at the intersection of psychology, about reptilian survival instincts and the artist’s real history of emigration.