Works of Love from Russia

Authors

Alisa GorsheninaFollow

Abstract

This reflective artist’s statement by Alisa Gorshenina (Alice Hualice) intertwines autobiographical narrative with the creative context of four works produced during and after her politically forced displacement from Russia. Gorshenina recounts a lifelong pattern of resisting external pressures—from expectations to relocate for education and career advancement to demands that she flee Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. She frames her continued desire to live in her hometown of Nizhny Tagil as an act of personal agency and a “new language of resistance,” grounded not in state loyalty but in an authentic, non-nationalistic love of place. Increasing censorship, denunciations, canceled exhibitions, and eventual detention culminated in her involuntary exile. During nine days in a special detention center, she created three drawings that served as a means of psychological survival, seeking inner peace amid fear and uncertainty. Together with the accompanying photograph, these works document a moment of rupture while affirming the artist’s commitment to transforming personal experience into mythopoetic visual language. Her art becomes both testimony and resistance—asserting the enduring strength of love, memory, and self-determination under oppressive conditions.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Gorshenina, Alisa (2025) "Works of Love from Russia," International Dialogue: Vol. 15, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32873/uno.dc.ID.15.01.1221
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/id-journal/vol15/iss1/4