Flying Away

Kseniya Simonova: Sand Performance

Form: Kseniya Simonova uses her fingers and hands to morph sand into a variety of forms over a lit surface, creating a sense of the passing of time all the while keeping the viewer engaged in what emotions are being expressed throughout the performance.  In this work of art, the artist as complete control of time.  She has the power to choose whether she is going to slowly and elegantly depict the next scene, or quickly change from one to the next.  This is a rare but brilliant depiction of how as an artist, one can have power over time.

Content: This artist seems to be depicting the intense longing one must feel when a loved one is lost, in what appears to be some sort of war.  She has a brilliant way of depicting forms of all ages, from multiple generations.  She also somehow manages to portray the aging of a young beautiful woman, in a matter of seconds. 

Process: Kseniya morphs sand on a lit surface, producing multiple scenes using the light behind the sand as the lightest points, and the buildup of sand as the darker points. She creates scenes one after another, depicting a sense of a story being told.

I chose this artist’s work because she inspired me more so than the others did.  This artist seemed to have discovered the most effective way of telling a story through process/performance art.  She combined visual with audio, and in her own way tied those two together with time.  This, in my opinion, is raw brilliance.