Euromaidan 2014

Alevtyna Kakhidze made this drawing, Euromaidan, sometime around 2014, using what looks like ink on paper. The first thing that strikes me is the directness, the urgency in the marks. It's like she's capturing a scene, a feeling, as quickly as possible. There's a rawness to the lines, a kind of vulnerability. You can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the page, deciding what to include, what to leave out. Take the way she renders the clothing hung on the trees: these outlines are rough and ready, like the artist is working in real-time. It reminds me of some of Philip Guston's later work, where the forms are simplified, almost cartoonish, but still carry so much emotional weight. And that’s what makes this drawing so powerful, it embraces ambiguity, letting the viewer bring their own associations and memories to the scene. It reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation, a space for exchange and interpretation.