Project

Lockdown Diet, 2019 - ongoing

During pandemic-induced confinement, a new series of works “the Lockdown Diet” was born out of a pile of plastic packaging left over from the essentials shopping. 

In this series I reflect on Brutalist architecture of my childhood, which became a sort of cultural code ingrained in me, being born in the USSR. 

Growing up in the 80’s in the Soviet Union, as the country was going through yet another major historical transformation - the architecture reflected the changing society, its values and principles. For me architectural signifiers became a visual language and a prism for looking at the world. And then subsequently, a tool for articulating ideas of power systems, belonging and time.

Exploring form, size, and different configurations allowed me to connect with my inner child while engaging in a form of an active meditation and a form of a daily ritual.  As I constantly rearrange the forms,  I am reflecting on how history is composed of period blocks (chronological units) that keep repeating. As if some BIG kid (a God concept) is playing with a finite amount of building blocks, constantly rearranging them ever so slightly. OR is it us, humans, that keep wanting to re-write history by constantly repeating it in hopes for a different outcome?

Exploring form, size, and different configurations   allowed me to connect with my inner child while engaging in a form of an active meditation and a sort of a daily ritual.