Yana Smetanina
Born in 1976 in Belebey, Bashkiria. Educated at the School of Animation Cinematography, the Moscow State University of Printing Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art. She has worked at the Pilot animation studio and collaborated with publications including Krokodil and Smena.
In psychology Elisabeth Kubler-Ross famously identified five stages of bereavement, the loss of a loved one. This principle applies to how we react to any other unexpected events, grief. The second stage is aggression. The fifth stage is acceptance. According to statistics, only 2 percent of people go through this stage.
Lack, loss … We all lose something, someone …
We try to ignore things that lead us to unpleasant thoughts …
We throw away unnecessary things, get rid of unwanted habits.
That’s it, in my life there is no more television, and I don’t know what it means “to bite your nails.” The word “nail-biting” is stricken from my vocabulary! I cross out “affection”… What else do we have that is unnecessary, that is hard to think about? Ah, “respect,” “freedom,” we’ll cross those out as well.
We do not let unwanted people into our lives.
Sometimes, when we are near each other and working closely together, we may stop existing for each other. As if that were not enough, we cross out people from our lives, especially if they do us wrong.
People die … We erase the memory of them so we do not hurt, or we do the opposite — we erase our love for life in memory of the departed.
There is an illusion of comfort. The emptiness, the absence of irritants. We minimize our pain and possibly cause pain to others. A closed circle.
But (there is always a “but”) people do not disappear forever.
Yana Smetanina
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist
Яна Сметанина. Из проекта «2-я стадия». 2012. Графика, карандаш, тушь, гуашь, 12 работ 180 х 90 см, 90 х 120 см. Видео, 7 мин. 3 сек. © Автор Yana Smetanina. From the “2nd Phase” project. 2012. Drawing, ink, penсil, gouache. 12 works 180 х 90 cm, 90 х 120 cm. Video, 7 min. 3 sec. © Artist