Expressive Realism: Asya Dodina and Slava Polishchuk / mixed media works, and Grigory Starikovsky / Poetry.

Expressive Realism brings together an artistic dialogue between visual artists Asya Dodina and Slava Polishchuk and poet Grigory Starikovsky. Introduced by Natalia Kolodzei, art historian, curator, and Executive Director of the Kolodzei Art Foundation, this publication features 22 mixed media works from Dodina and Polishchuk’s Places of Silence series and 22 poems by Starikovsky. In their manifesto Expressive Realism: Place. Person. Subject, Asya Dodina and Slava Polishchuk define their practice as a realism of emotion, where real-world subjects, liminal landscapes, vacant lots, chain-link fences, and desolate streets, merge with the depth of inner experience. Rather than offering a mirror image of reality, their work uses expression as a tool to convey a state of mind. Working with materials closely akin to fundamental elements, water, paper, adhesive, and black paint rep-resenting the earth, they create a relief-textured, hardened paper pulp that invites a visual sense of touch. Through this tactile surface, the place becomes a conduit for complex human emotions, evoking anxiety, vulnerability, tranquility, and hope in the face of an uncertain existence. This visual focus finds a natural counterpart in Starikovsky’s poetry and his exploration of the "possibility of space." A translator of Greek and Latin classics into Russian, Starikovsky uses verse with stark visual clarity to articulate emotional presence within everyday surroundings, transforming persistent memories into an act of personal liberation. Together, their works bridge image and words to reflect on the passage of time and the fragile human search for connection.

Natalia Kolodzei
Kolodzei Art Foundation
Honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts