How to Make an Army, 2015

Matryoshka, a Russian nesting doll, is a widely recognized symbol of traditional Russian culture. A set of dolls, placed one inside another, is usually painted and decorated in various styles. This piece consists of a number of unpainted Russian nesting dolls, taken out of their sets and placed in straight lines on the floor in decreasing order. Plain faceless dolls, forcefully positioned in orderly manner, emphasize displacement from the context of traditional culture. The original function of these objects to represent traditional values is neglected; the dolls are employed to create a new modern structure, foreign to their identity, and thus, misused. The work comments on how symbols of traditional cultures are re-interpreted and utilized in post-modern societies.