Painting by Olena Koliesnik

There are things you can’t escape from, even if you’re no longer physically with them. Kolesnik left Ukraine because of danger, a full-scale invasion of the aggressor country into the territory of Ukraine. But the images of destruction — explosions, destroyed borders, cities that no longer exist, from those distant regions that hold the line of defense to what she found, the cafe where she drank coffee every morning before work exploded, there are no walls left of the educational institution, and she still remembers the smell of food in the cafeteria and chemical reactions in the laboratories. Destruction is superimposed on top of happy memories. They are eaten without permission. One of four paintings without a fixed order in the “Escape” section of the “Solomon’s Paradox” series. “Solomon’s Paradox” is 18 paintings, three parts, and one common trajectory. I started this series at a time when I absolutely couldn’t help myself. All around me was a catastrophe: my country was in a state of full-scale war, my relatives were under occupation, my personal relationships were on the verge, and I myself was in a complete stupor. In search of ephemeral or real “salvation,” I delved into the knowledge of my own reactions and came across a psychological effect that gave the name to the entire project. Solomon’s paradox is a phenomenon when we are able to give wise advice to others, but are powerless to help ourselves, because our own emotions obscure our vision. So this series became my personal way of distancing ourselves and looking at ourselves from the outside. The concept of the three-brain and the three states Conceptually, I built the series on the theory of the three-brain, namely, on its primitive, reptilian part. This is the part that simply survives and is unable to think. This is exactly the framework of life that I was in at the time. So I explored the “reptilian brain,” its three basic reactions: fight, run, freeze. The three parts of the series are three states that I experienced. They did not go in the “right” order, because with such traumatic things there is never a right order. The first part created is Stupor (freeze reaction). This is a person who is stuck near an invisible wall. The second part is Attack (Hit). A person who is fighting against his own bubble of ideas from the inside. The third part is Escape (Run). A person in motion. But what is it - a panicked escape or finally liberation? Details and symbolism The hero in each work is a stencil print. His silhouette has three poses, and he is desperately looking for his place in space. I created this series in three countries: Ukraine, Poland and Spain. For the works I used three different textures of paper. All the details were found and put together as if by chance. But this chance works for the concept. I draw a parallel here and see that this is what real life looks like, when you have no control over anything except what you personally take responsibility for.