Liubov Kucheriava, which directly translates into English as Love Curly, is a Ukrainian artist, print maker and set designer.
Eroticism, beauty and emotional and sensual impact of shapes and colours have been crucial for her work for almost a decade, with media ranging from digital to painting to installation. The pandemic, however, has had a truly transformative effect on her practice. The artist started drawing by hand a lot, which allowed her to find a new level of freedom in self-expression and a new vector, a sexual act and meditative process for healing and coping with pain.
In her own words:
“I have studied sexuality before, in digital works, but the experience of drawing with my hands made me feel so much joy from the process, it could be compared to a sexual act. This new experience, reminiscent of a mystical ritual, is a journey through consciousness, in which I meet mythical characters, participants of erotic fairy tales, who- se characters are based on real people and events that fill my life.
In the beginning, there is just a blank sheet, no prior sket- ching, composition or vision of what should be depicted. It’s hard to explain how it works, for me it is a sacral pro- cess. The whole composition is created in a matter of a few minutes, using colour and no further corrections.
The technique is simple and similar to a child's drawi- ng, strokes are like stitches, filling the space between the lines, creating a translucent texture with a primitive vo- lume, which makes the image ghostly and unreal. Wo- ven from dreams - that’s how you can describe my latest works. The process is reminiscent of embroidery, medita- tion, and therapy.
Having finished, I can look at the work for hours, yet of- ten the understanding of how I was involved is absent. Characters you can see in my works are guests in my life, teachers who help me to understand and accept myself, to cope with the pain that came with the outbreak of the war, the pain of a broken heart.”
Exhibitions:
Group exhibition by TISSUE Magazine featuring visual artists from Ukraine at Raum linksrechts, Gangeviertel, Hamburg, June 3rd - June 6th 2017
BLAZAR Young Contemporary Art Fair, Moscow Museum, Sep 9th - Sep 13th 2020
Group exhibition SAMPLE x MMOMA VACATION, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, May 24th - Jun 6th 2021 Auction on June 7th
Group exhibition of Ukrainian artists UNBREAKABLE, MOM art space, Valentinskamp 34A, Hamburg,
Jul 7th - Jul 16th 2022