ARTIST STATEMENT
As a political immigrant who fled Russia due to state repression, my art is a reflection of both personal experience and collective trauma. These paintings are my visual manifesto, expressing the pain, fear, and frustration of countless women and citizens trapped in a system that silences and punishes dissent. The first painting portrays the terrifying vulnerability of women in Russia. Domestic violence is rampant, yet there is no protection—neither legal nor societal. A woman must sometimes take the most desperate actions to survive, because the police won’t come. They don’t protect us from our abusers, especially when the abuser is a husband. The second painting reflects the eerie, iconic image of Swan Lake broadcast on television—a silent signal of regime change during Soviet times. Today, this symbol remains deeply embedded in Russian consciousness, representing the hope for political transformation that never comes. The ballet keeps playing, but nothing changes. Through my work, I strive to document the psychological and political conditions that led me to leave, and to give voice to those who are still unable to speak.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
She is a thirty-year-old artist, a political immigrant from Russia, who received her secondary education in the direction of the ancient folk art and craft of Russia. In an attempt to start a career as an artist in Russia, she completely abandoned this idea for a business in another area. After escaping from her native country, she decided to start her creative work again and channel all those emotions experienced over the years into it. Her work is a reflection of political themes, relations between people, relations between men and women, the role of women in society, inner emotions, crises and endless questions about how difficult it is to feel like just a small grain of sand in this world. She performs her works in such styles as Figurative and Modern painting, Symbolism and Minimalism working only in acrylic medium.
© Ena Mork