Painting by Olena Koliesnik

Being an observer, not a victim of one’s own thoughts, is also a choice. In this work, the trajectory of my numbness changes: for the first time, the hero turns away from the wall and surveys the space of his own circle. His figure and shadow have completely merged — the inner pain no longer presses, but becomes part of self-acceptance. On the sterile white space, I superimpose the silhouettes of branches, as if they are embracing the hero. At this moment, I recall the habit that was born then: to sit alone in the morning and listen to the birds singing. A moment alone with oneself can be not catastrophic — not requiring strength to fence off from thoughts, but becoming a space where different things are permissible. In the space of this painting, both silence and thousands of thoughts exist simultaneously. Note: The painting is from the section “Stupor” (freeze reaction) from the series “Solomon’s Paradox” — 18 works created at the intersection of psychology, about reptilian survival instincts and the artist’s real history of emigration. 2023, Ukraine