The series of works presented at Anka Akhalai’s first solo exhibition is based on the theme of dreams. For several years, the artist kept a diary in which she recorded all her dreams. The practice of recording dreams as a creative method was first used by the Surrealists at the beginning of the 20th century. The essence of this method was to record or sketch the images, hallucinations, and dreams seen in a dream as quickly as possible immediately after waking up, until they were affected by comprehension and real consciousness. In her works, the artist does not seek to embody real images and subjects seen in a dream. She makes an attempt to visualize the emotions she experiences in a dream, a kind of aftertaste that remains in the body and mind upon awakening. Anka is inspired by soft natural shapes and natural natural colors. Her painting creates a sense of physicality, there is some biomorphism in the smooth, flowing forms of her compositions. Often the lines in her works go beyond the canvas, as if penetrating into the viewer’s space, and capture his environment. These lines have no beginning and no end, it is an endless image capable of living its life depending on the environment.

In the Night
2021
Canvas print, acrylic, mixed media
139 × 185 cm

The series of works presented at Anka Akhalai’s first solo exhibition is based on the theme of dreams. For several years, the artist kept a diary in which she recorded all her dreams. The practice of recording dreams as a creative method was first used by the Surrealists at the beginning of the 20th century. The essence of this method was to record or sketch the images, hallucinations, and dreams seen in a dream as quickly as possible immediately after waking up, until they were affected by comprehension and real consciousness. In her works, the artist does not seek to embody real images and subjects seen in a dream. She makes an attempt to visualize the emotions she experiences in a dream, a kind of aftertaste that remains in the body and mind upon awakening. Anka is inspired by soft natural shapes and natural natural colors. Her painting creates a sense of physicality, there is some biomorphism in the smooth, flowing forms of her compositions. Often the lines in her works go beyond the canvas, as if penetrating into the viewer’s space, and capture his environment. These lines have no beginning and no end, it is an endless image capable of living its life depending on the environment.

The exhibition also features a series of graphics made on tracing paper. In the first such works, Anka took hand-drawn drawings from the ZIL factory, then tracing papers from scientific institutes were added to them. The artist applies transparent paints on top of the glass, invading their clear, almost mathematical structure with spreading abstract images, and completely devalues the original content of the drawings, breathing new life and meaning into the found objects.

Dreams murmured in sleep
2021
Canvas, canvas print, acrylic, mixed media
185 × 280 cm

The exhibition also features a series of graphics made on tracing paper. In the first such works, Anka took hand-drawn drawings from the ZIL factory, then tracing papers from scientific institutes were added to them. The artist applies transparent paints on top of the glass, invading their clear, almost mathematical structure with spreading abstract images, and completely devalues the original content of the drawings, breathing new life and meaning into the found objects.

Anka’s works are very personal, even intimate, they grow from personal experiences and experiences. And although the artist draws images from her own dreams, she is absolutely convinced that her work should not be perceived by the viewer as dream fixation. It doesn’t matter to her whether the viewer understands the underlying meaning. Much more valuable to her is what he finds or sees in her work himself. In a sense, the artist creates a unique ground in which every viewer is free to grow their own meanings. Anka puts peculiar puzzles into the works, in which any clue offered by the viewer is true. Her work is a matter for an infinite number of interpretations, a magic ball in which everyone will see what they want most.

Curator: Polina Mogilina

Drawing #4
2021
Tracing paper, mixed media
87 × 87 cm

Anka’s works are very personal, even intimate, they grow from personal experiences and experiences. And although the artist draws images from her own dreams, she is absolutely convinced that her work should not be perceived by the viewer as dream fixation. It doesn’t matter to her whether the viewer understands the underlying meaning. Much more valuable to her is what he finds or sees in her work himself. In a sense, the artist creates a unique ground in which every viewer is free to grow their own meanings. Anka puts peculiar puzzles into the works, in which any clue offered by the viewer is true. Her work is a matter for an infinite number of interpretations, a magic ball in which everyone will see what they want most.

Curator: Polina Mogilina