THE WITNESSES 

(2023 - in progress)

installation (wood, plywood, plaster, cyanotype, video)

The history of political repressions during the Soviet era holds records of hundreds of thousands of victims across the country. One such place is the forest tract of Sandarmokh. Here, in the Medvezhyegorsky district of Karelia, according to researchers, more than 6,241 people were executed and buried — victims of mass shootings that took place in 1937–1938.

Thanks to the efforts of many people, fifty years after the tragedy, the secret burial site was discovered and became a place of remembrance for those whose lives were cut short during the years of terror.

For several years, I have been traveling to Sandarmokh — to the forest that grew over half a century of oblivion. I collect 6,241 branches that have grown and fallen in the area where people were executed and buried. I use cyanotype to create my works on-site, using these gathered branches. Thanks to a special iron-and-salt solution with high photosensitivity, it is possible to produce images in various shades of blue. The unexposed areas retain the imprint of the object placed on them. These images have the ability to regenerate: fading under prolonged exposure to light, they restore themselves in darkness — a symbol of the hope for the revival of memory.

This method of direct contact printing refers to the Shroud of Turin, an image-symbol of both sacrifice and resurrection.

Each work in the series is titled according to the number of branches used to create the image.

The project will be completed when all 6,241 branches have been imprinted — as a remembrance of each individual who perished.