Imminently

Imminently project was created in collaboration with Dima Tolkachov at the Mala Gallery in 2023

ABSORPTION
This series was the starting point for the IMMINENTLY project. We commenced working on it in the fall of 2021 when the media space was full of news about Russia amassing armored vehicles and hundreds of thousands of troops on the Ukrainian borders. A disturbing information flow gave rise to uncertainty about the future. In an attempt to make the all-consuming anticipation of an invasion explicit, we turned to the images of a whirlpool, a quagmire, and a chasm.
Volt transformed photographs of these patterns into graphics on paper, stroke by stroke, constructing materiality from digital images. Dima turned landscapes photographed during his walks into “clay” and sculpted images of absorption from its pixels. By interacting with photography as a raw material, we delved into work that required attention to detail. It helped to find an area of control in a situation where uncertainty was the only constant

FANGS
The core element of this artwork is an icon from the power outage schedule. The four crossed-out lightning bolts are mirrored and constitute a new sign – vampire teeth.
The ironic image contrasts with the depressing mood experienced during the winter blackouts. This is an insincere smile, a few steps to despair. After all, life without electricity, gas, and water became a challenge.
I noticed that, during blackouts, I turned into a situational vampire: I should have always asked for an invitation to a place where I could recharge. However, allusions of a romantic flair were shattered by everyday life hardships.
Still, vampire fangs are also the evil smile of those forced to live in gloom. After all, darkness not only oppresses but also activates some survival skills and fuels resistance to evil.

SEARCH
The absence of light sets a new routine. In order to work, you must first find a place to recharge. You try to find out which of your friends do not suffer from power outages. You keep asking whether your neighborhood has an open café equipped with a generator. You check whether there is a Wi-Fi connection at the point of invincibility.
If you were lucky enough to recharge, you can return home. But why if it’s just as wintry there as it is outside? Aimed search switches to aimless wandering. You go drifting with a backpack-capsule-of-comfort on your shoulders.
The forced ritual is repeated daily, turning you into a caged beast that wanders angrily from one wall to another. So you keep going in circles, hoping new air defense systems will break them soon enough.