Katya Muromtseva. Live sessions of shadow portraits and interviews
During the first weeks of her exhibition in May–June 2023, Katya Muromtseva will be offering individual life drawing sessions. Each session will take from thirty minutes to an hour, during which the artist will paint a watercolour portrait of a visitor’s shadow. At the request of the artist participation in these sessions is offered to people ready to donate to "Helping to Leave", an organisation providing humanitarian help to Ukrainians (starting from £20). Through this process-based work, Muromtseva aims to connect with the audience of Pushkin House and get to know them better. If they would like to take the drawing home with them, visitors are invited to make a further donation to "Helping to Leave" through Pushkin House.
In many of her projects Muromtseva uses documentary methods such as conducting interviews. Usually these interviews inspire particular works and act as a starting point, reflected in the artwork partially or obliquely. In the case of the drawing sessions she is fusing the documentary element and the creation of the piece itself. During the shadow portrait painting, she will ask the person a question that she has asked many times before: “When did you first feel that you live in history?”
While the two series of works that Muromtseva is exhibiting in Pushkin House are created to enhance the visibility of anti-war protests and activists in Russia, the drawing sessions deal with visibility in a more conceptual manner. By asking potential participants to donate to a political cause, she not only listens to their testimonies, but also involves them in history directly, though material help. That way, they also become active and visible in the area of political struggle, which is the main topic of the exhibition.
BOOK A SESSION
Unfortunately, there are no available sessions left.