Baltica, 2003-2016, statement

The same way as the prehistoric continent Baltica was born from fragments of mainland, I try to revive the continent of my youth, built up with fragments of memories and emotions. I explore how the passage of time transforms the perception of things I have lived through.

I reveal a story of small punk community that was a shelter for us, adolescents growing up in 90s, a period of a dramatic change for Russia. Growing up is very much like searching for a homeland. We trip over things during the journey and bring with us only what we want to be part of us. A desperate desire to escape the tension of not knowing where we belong. Looking back now, 10 years after, I see that I still belong to that little world that made me who I am. I’m driven by a (perhaps) naive and romantic ambition to hold a disappearing past and hence to guarantee my present.

The project is a photographic installation and a limited editon (of 12) handmade signed books, consisting of 43 images.