Mariia Vasylenko-Sheremetieva

During quarantine, I felt like contact with the outside world seemed to be lost inside me and I am desperately trying to keep the remains of that thrill. Like the one that arises when I behold the work of artists of other branches, who are completely dedicated to their practice.

I wanted to talk about this in my work and this scene arose. A closed space, in the form of a room and a person who is engaged in cutting pieces of film.

My family had to face a pandemic in October of the 20th year – my father was infected with the coronavirus. He was one of the seriously ill patients. Doctors said it was a real miracle that he recovered. He stayed in the hospital for a month and a half, then another month of rehabilitation. During that time I stayed in observation, in a state of deep despair that only had been intensified by unfortunate events that happened to me at the same time.

But I was not alone, thanks to the support of relatives and friends, though they could not be with me, we kept in touch.

The experience of working on this painting became a manifestation of internal resistance. Resistance to everything that was a consequence of my emotional burnout, which only intensified over time.

Sometimes I feel like my hands are tied to my professional identity, and having a certain potential in art, you owe your life to this activity. Otherwise, there is a risk of simply wasting yourself and losing the ability to feel and create.

The ability to contemplate and empathize is very important for an artist. It should guide you, forcing you to constantly seek and find something in your observations. In objects, images, movement, or statics, imprinting it in your mind for a moment, dissecting it from the general context, but at the same time not losing it, and filling them with some kind of meaning.

And this meaning is determined by the boundaries of your “self”. Therefore, we can conclude that you also find yourself in the objects of art. If you manage to find yourself in the other artists’ works – you have something to say in your own works.