Painting by Viktoriia Hunina

Paper doll as a metaphor for femininity — about a woman and society's expectations: a relationship nobody asked if you wanted to enter, but there's no way out of it either. At the center of the composition is a figure made of tracing paper and gouache, surrounded by a lattice and flowers, as if in a display window where everything is visible except the exit. For years, it was carefully explained: your good qualities are worth nothing, while the smallest flaw deserves a microscope and a scolding. And you, the obedient student, took such thorough notes that you eventually became your own strictest supervisor. Now the outside critics can rest — you'll manage on your own. The resource called "being a woman" ran out yesterday, and yet the result, of course, is expected to be nothing short of perfect — otherwise it doesn't count. As if you weren't a living woman with nerves and exhaustion, but a carefully starched paper doll, obediently ready to hold any role without a single crease.