UNFOLDING
Lidia Russkova's practice moves between photo, video, performance, sound and total installations. Her works focus on the interconnection of universal images, language and the momentum. Artist's contemplations were developed via the routine of taking daily notes, which later on led to transferring them into the visual realm. Artistic practice includes textual elements, which is a tribute to the artist's fascination with political philosophy, history, historical speeches, newspaper cuts, fables, oeuvre of Susan Sontag and the book "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes (the work concerns the structure of society and legitimate government, and is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory).
The balance of industrial and futuristic materials, used in the works (glass, plastic, neon, metal), refers to the artist's autobiographical memories, when she was present at the industrial site of a mill factory. This approach explores the capacity of raw materials to possess aesthetically compelling design qualities.
The artist traces the challenges of the contemporary world - recognisable but not always immediately visible - on social and natural landscapes. The process poses questions of vision and memory, prompting a revision of photographic conventions and opening a new discursive terrain. Experimental sound pieces, photo and video installations by Lidia Russkova create cine-somatic cartographies exploring the relationship between individual and collective memories. She extends her research beyond the context of image production, embracing historical linearity and ideological certainties of representation in the present histories. Her works explore the capacity of art to be a vehicle for dialogue among diverse locations.
Artistic practice of Lidia Russkova is oriented by questioning "intermezzo", as posed by Deleuze, - it looks towards the now, when the past is deceptive and the future is unknown. During the pandemic Russkova started researching sky and soundscapes of different cities in order to refer, on my hand, to the theme of solitude, and on the other - to create safe space both for herself and for the audience thus offering tools for self-identification and self-search. One of the main symbols of her works is sky and it's transformative state. Inspired by Christian Orthodox Iconography and the way the sky is being depicted by diverse artists, Russkova attempts to build her multi-layered, inclusive practice via creating meditative healing prints. Series of works aim at reflecting the current state of events, consiquently ascertaining this is something everyone can relate to.