Project “Rooted in ice” (2023) 

     This body of work grows from my childhood and has an emotional imprint. I’m originally from the Northern area of Russia where snowy and frosty winter is deeply rooted or rather icebound in our culture through traditions and songs. I have happy memories of ice skating, frost-biting cheeks and icicles, my father’s winter fishing on a lake and watching people’s ice swimming. People of the northern areas depend on ice a lot for food security, for transportation needs. But they have less and less of it. The climate is changing, it is real. There are countless dramatic examples of extreme weather conditions: rising sea levels, forest fires, ocean warming and ice melting. 

The project is a visual celebration of frozen water. It is designed to mesmerise the viewer with unique ice formations, their melting points and reflections to reveal another level of wonder before those moments disappear forever. The project started as a recreation of northern landscapes by manipulations with memories, ice and plastic. The influence of the last one on the fate of global weather conditions is enormous. To expand the visual narrative, I transformed ordinary ice into something that never had been seen before. The entirely new constructions absorbed textures of ice and all that it implies: movement, change, time, and human influence. My intention here is to make people question themself: what are we losing? What future will the next generation inherit? Would it be possible for them to do something as ordinary as stepping on a frozen river? I aim to raise awareness through art. I want people to fall in love with ice so much that they would want to save it.