Young Russian Artists: The Rite of Spring

"The idea for this work came to me after a series made using a similar technique. The combination of collage on fabric – an exaggerated state of everyday life and a sewn tapestry – an object associated with childhood, transfers to the fairy reality of the city constructed by the authorities.

Constant promises made by the authorities do not lead to the creation of a dream atmosphere for a specific person, but to a feeling of utopian everyday life. In this case, a person becomes a character in a fictional game in which their actions are predetermined according to a pre-planned scenario – they submit to rules and are strictly limited.

As in The Rite of Spring, in this textile I wanted to show sacrifice, but in everyday life. I replaced old metro carriage with new, utopian modern ones, however, the sacrifice has already been made and we are promised that the future will be better." - Ekaterina Mordvinkina, 2021.

Ekaterina Mordvinkina is a student at Moscow's HSE Art and Design School.

“My art practices are related to language, words and gestures, which are part of the apparatus for violence in modern society. I am also interested in the etymological and semantic connection between text and textiles.”