ALISA GORSHENINA

new public art commission at pushkin house

We are proud to have a new triptych created by Alisa Gorshenina on display outside Pushkin House. Gorshenina was born in the village of Yakshina and moved to Nizhny Tagil in the Urals, giving her the unique perspective of an artist not from Moscow or St Petersburg. Her artwork explores the aesthetics of the Russian hinterland and interweaves the different national identities that make up Russia, and these new works reflect on the lives and cultures affected by the invasion of Ukraine.

Since the full invasion began, Gorshenina’s art has become a kind of activism. While she does not consider her work to be explicitly ‘anti-war’, it is a very personal expression of her history, emotions and trauma and so the theme of war cannot be avoided. In the context of the ongoing conflict, Gorshenina’s work underlines the vital role of artists who make an anti-war statement simply by reflecting their experience of today’s reality.

Her work Pain (2022) features words that describe mental or physical pain in different languages ​​​​of the peoples of Russia, sewn onto a heart. She sees the pain of war through the eyes of Russia’s ethnic minorities, who have been disproportionately targeted by the mobilisation, echoing the protests seen in Yakutia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and other regions. Throwing My Hands Up (2023) recalls feelings of despondency experienced by those in Russia and beyond, and The Bell Jar (2022) depicts the isolation Russia has imposed on itself – closed off from the world, stuck in a vacuum, although still able to see the outside world.

Despite the danger to her safety, and a previous trial and fine for “discrediting the Russian army”, Gorshenina feels a responsibility to stay in Russia, where she continues to create art and speak up against the war.

From left to right: The Bell Jar (2022), Pain (2022), Throwing My Hands Up (2023)

Photographer: Seryozha Vlasov
Instagram: @alicehualice