To Galyna Zhehulska 1983

Oleksandr Aksinin made this monochromatic etching, entitled 'To Galyna Zhehulska', at an unknown date. It's like a mystical totem pole, isn’t it? Like something found in a dream. I can imagine Aksinin hunched over the plate, meticulously scratching the surface, building up this strange, surreal image line by line. The arrows pinning this figure in place might suggest some kind of piercing emotional pain. Or maybe they represent the piercing insight of the creative. The texture is really interesting too, isn't it? The way the dense, almost fabric-like background contrasts with the smooth, rounded form of the central figure. And the arrows... they don't feel aggressive, more like markers, pinning down a feeling or an idea. Like the artist is trying to catch something elusive, to give form to something invisible. It reminds me of Klee, or maybe Goya, that sense of wrestling with the unknown. Art is an ongoing exchange, isn't it? We keep having this conversation.