Freud 1981

Oleksandr Aksinin made this drawing called ‘Freud’ with ink on paper. It’s a strange image; a sort of figure-object emerges from this inky dark void. I can imagine Aksinin hunched over his desk, meticulously building up the form, letting it slowly emerge from the paper, one tiny mark at a time. It's so detailed, this kind of labor intensive mark-making reminds me of Agnes Martin's delicate pencil lines. Look at the way the texture is built up from a network of tiny dots and lines, creating a mesmerizing effect, like looking through a screen. The tone is dark, mysterious, the black ink almost seems to absorb the light. There’s a tiny ‘F’ inscribed within the form. What could it mean? The drawing invites a lot of possible interpretations; it could be about the hidden depths of the unconscious mind, exploring the complexities of human psychology. Aksinin was part of the Ukrainian underground art scene during the Soviet era. He, like many artists, was in conversation with the ideas of the time, including psychoanalysis, and filtering these through their own unique lens.