Kin-Up, 2014

Katerina Belkina   Famous Artists

Concept of the series Light and Heavy: There is an average city where time has stood still. It is the epitome of an average city on the planet. At different times, many things were created here, many things perished and were rebuilt. Everything here is full of contrasts: the light and the heavy, the rich and the poor, the beautiful and the ugly, and the polarities of the masculine and the feminine. We don't see any men in the series. They have dissolved into the surrounding atmosphere. Nevertheless, we feel their presence and influence at every opportunity. The space visualizes everything masculine: Soviet and post-Soviet architecture, the frozen air, the emptiness, the anonymity, and at the same time, power and intransigence. The woman is the wisest presence in such a place, and she strives to leave it. There is no present, no future, and no joy in being a woman. In a city like this, she has a special, enormous responsibility. Women and men must be equal—strong and successful. "Successful" here is to be understood in the classic patriarchal sense of the essence of femininity. She is merely a beautiful shell that must be filled with the "right" and "appropriate" material. Under social pressure and Stockholm syndrome, she lives in constant competition for a place alongside men. Purposeful forward movement and self-presentation as a commodity are the rules of the game for modern women in Eastern Europe—rules that have adapted to the times but remain fundamentally the same. A woman does not belong to herself. Presenting herself to the public is merely a way to attract attention. Underwear and heels are the attributes of the hurried woman. They are necessary uniforms as well as a "sword and shield"—a metaphorical symbol of attack and protection.