The Chain, 2026

Olesia Miftahova  

Series: Maybe I've Always Been Here

The Goddess-Woman appears in a long robe that conceals her body and leaves only her face exposed, which focuses attention on her presence and gaze. The surrounding space resembles a desert, an endless and disorienting condition in which form and time are absent. The background intensifies a sense of an apocalyptic state, as if the world is standing on a threshold. At the same time, within this emptiness there is a patch of light, like a faint glimpse of dawn, which does not promise salvation but offers hope.

According to Celtic mythological perception, the horned beast appears as a figure that crosses the boundaries between worlds, acting as a guide through states of transition between forms of existence. In this work, it is read in exactly this way, not as a creature or a symbol,  but as a principle of irreversible and global changes.

The heavy chain on its neck may at first appear to be an ornament, however in reality it is a key element of the image. It is not decoration, but rather a sign of restriction, like a fixation of movement and a tension between force and its containment.