Painting by Olena Koliesnik

There is a script for a woman. There is a right age for decisions. There are boundaries that are not accepted to be crossed — and no one explains why these and not others. The hero in this painting runs — and external constructions are superimposed on top, breaking through a circle. It is an illusion that autonomy can be maintained in running. The outside world still leaves its imprints. The blurred background is not a stylistic device. It is a speed at which you do not have time to see anything. The edge of the painting is torn off by hand — a tactile trace of haste. One of four paintings without a fixed order in the “Escape” section of the “Solomon’s Paradox” series. In the “Escape” section, I clearly know what I am running from. But where — it can be abstract. As soon as this movement began, I seemed to get on a high-speed train that does not notice anything around. A race that results only in exhaustion? I thought about such questions when creating these works. Six paintings. One impulse — “Run.” The original command of the reptilian part of the brain, which you do not choose. I asked my Instagram followers: what are you running from right now? The answers formed the basis of the paintings: From yourself. From frames. From war. From people. From dreams. From oblivion. The series has an entrance and an exit - and four paintings between them without a strict hierarchy: each viewer builds their own content. The technique is subordinate to the idea: satin paper was moistened on both sides, the pigment lost its boundaries and spread beyond the circle. This is how the world looked like flying upside down. The outside breaks through the protective space - and the circle deforms, unlike the previous section "Attack" where it only pressed from the inside. One edge of each painting is torn off by hand intentionally. A trace of haste. Tactile evidence that it happened. The section "Escape" is part of the series "Solomon's Paradox"—eighteen paintings about three human reactions in crisis: stupor, attack, escape. This part was created in Spain.