Soldiers 2013

Editor: Ilya Isupov's "Soldiers," painted in 2013 with oil paints, immediately struck me. There's this incredible sense of fragmentation, both in the subject matter and in the physical way the painting is… presented? What do you make of how the image seems to be broken apart? Curator: That fracturing is key, isn't it? It's as if Isupov's trying to show us the memory of war, not the event itself. Notice how the cracks, almost like geological faults, bisect the figures. The memory of conflict, and trauma, it rarely arrives whole, complete, or pristine. Do you feel the same when you see it? Editor: Absolutely, the figures themselves are indistinct. It's hard to grasp the exact scene, or the expressions on their faces, through those dividing lines. The limited palette only amplifies that sense of…distance. Curator: Yes, he limits his palette to a range of somber colors. Blue-grays, earthy browns… they evoke a sense of coldness and decay. Isupov seems interested in stripping away any romantic notions we might hold about heroism or war. Have you noticed any symbolism perhaps within the decay and trauma? Editor: It makes me think about how we piece together narratives of the past. History isn't always a clean, coherent story, is it? The cracks could represent the gaps in our understanding, or the way trauma splinters experience. Curator: Precisely. Think about the fragmented state of historical records, and oral histories. Isupov almost visually replicates the difficult job we have to truly reconstruct a past, one marred by tragedy. Do you find that the presentation helps you with empathy in experiencing the image? Editor: I do, seeing the art as visually harmed allows for the viewer to reflect on how harmful the topic in the art itself is. The fractures enhance this message. I now see this piece speaks to not only the battles on the ground, but the battle to remember truthfully. Curator: Well said! For me it shows the human struggle to mend what's broken and, with any luck, come away with something that wasn’t previously seen or thought of.