A Quarter and Five on the Horns

A quarter and five on the horns means twenty five years and five additional years of deprivation of civil rights. In keeping track of the time until one got out of the labor camps, a simple mark scrawled on the wall meant one day closer to freedom. This installation piece shows almost one year of that time.

A Quarter and Five on the Horns is roughly 1.5" x 2" each. Acrylic on stained wood.

...To the Last Clang of the Rail

"A day without a dark cloud. Almost a happy day.
There were three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days like that in his stretch.
From the first clang of the rail to the last clang of the rail."
-One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

...To the Last Clang of the Rail is ink and newspaper on wood panel. 48" x 48"

Below is a video of the final step in the process of making these pieces. I already penciled in the outlines and just needed to ink everything in. Thanks Zachs for the extra help with the video, it wouldn't have been possible without both of you.

No. Fifty Eight

A flower for all those condemned under Article Fifty Eight during Stalin's reign.

No. Fifty Eight is ink, oil, and newspaper on wood panel. 15.5" x 18.25". Framed

Prisoners

Prisoner no. 281



Prisoner no. 282



Prisoner no. 283

Prisoner no. 281, Prisoner no. 282, Prisoner no. 283 are ink and newspaper on wood panel. 16" x 23" each. Framed.

A Day Without a Dark Cloud

 "A Day without a dark cloud. Almost a happy day."
-One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn

A Day Without a Dark Cloud is ink, acrylic, and newspaper on wood panel.
Part of the current show "By Hundreds and Thousands" at Rothick Art Haus.

From the Show

Russian Red

During the October Revolution the Winter Palace was raided of its wine cellars and made much of the Petrograd population quite drunk. It got to the point that a decree was issued that any stock of wine found would be blown up with dynamite... To celebrate the wine pogrom issued by the Regimental Committee, Lenin, and Trotsky, I give you Russian Red... almost good enough to be straight from the cellar of the Winter Palace.

The Modern Matryoshka

Solzhenitsyn: front


Solzhenitsyn: side


Solzhenitsyn: back


Tolstoy: front


Tolstoy: side


Tolstoy: back


Dostoevsky: front


Dostoevsky: side


Dostoevsky: back


Inside

Finished!

After many intense hours, these dolls are all finished and ready to be shown this weekend. For Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky I also designed an official 'stamp' for the bottom of each one and included their names in English and Russian. When creating these, I decided to size each one according to his age, with the oldest (Dostoevsky) being the smallest. It was in no way to show partiality to Solzhenitsyn, but rather, as they are stacked inside each other, to show how each inspires the next.

The Modern Matryoshka opening reception is April 9th at 7pm
Click here for more details.

Adding Detail... after detail... after detail

Well I have now definitely spent a lot more time working on these dolls than I originally intended. I just kept dreaming bigger. For starters, I added special touches to the inside of each doll. I pasted in old Russian newspaper, and included images I found from these papers on the inside bottom of each 'cup'. Then to add a bit of much needed color, I painted the insides red.  On the outside, I decided to finish each doll off with a textured looking fabric sketch. You can see me working on Solzhenitsyn's herringbone jacket above. I had to put on two coats of lines in order to achieve the darkness I wanted, but I think it turned great. I will be adding textured 'fabrics' to the other two dolls as well and the next posting should be the finalized product.