Yulia Ustinova, the Russian artist, uses ‘tetki’-- a Russian word for “uneducated, ungroomed women’ as a foundation for a rich world of women and half-animal creatures.” In an interview with an Australian gallery in 2013, she says she now refers to them as ladies, or ‘plumpies.’ Ustinova deftly uses small props to imply stories for her figures. While their poses are relaxed … [Read more...] about Yulia Ustinova, the Russian artist, and her ‘ladies’ resonating in the west.
Photo Essay
Happy Valentine’s Day: The Parliament of Fowls
The Parliament of Fowls by Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1343-1400) is perhaps the first St. Valentine's Day poemever written. The Parliament of Fowls A garden saw I, full of blossomy boughs Upon a river, in a green mead, There as sweetness evermore enough is, With flowers white, blue, yellow, and … [Read more...] about Happy Valentine’s Day: The Parliament of Fowls
Happy New Year
Ready to Exhale
(January 21, 2021) For anyone watching the disintegration of the structures of democracy in the US, the rise of white supremacy and the unchecked spread of a deadly pandemic, the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris resulted in a deep exhale. It will take a while to process what exactly has gone on in the United States and its influence on … [Read more...] about Ready to Exhale
Trumpism in Canada
(January 11, 2020) A loud and heavily policed protest gathered at Dundas Square across the street from the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto on Saturday, January 9, 2021 underlined the international reach of Trumpism and his white supremacist politics. The protest was ostensibly about the Ontario government’s mandate (however unenforced) to wear masks in public when … [Read more...] about Trumpism in Canada