Iliya Mirochnik

My goal is to isolate the principles that have shaped my perception of the world around me. And use them, in the words of B. Pasternack, “to reach to the very core”. Following the traditions of the Russian academic school, my work relies on a firm footing in the figurative tradition. Yet it is precisely this training that allows me to diverge from it.

My work deals with exploring the correlation of a geographical and social solidity on a psychological instability. Centering on the ideas of belonging to, and exile from a “home”. Centering on such moments, in which the various strata of daily existence: financial, intellectual, personal, spiritual etc. Intersect with each other and conflict, the focus shifts to a predominant restlessness in human beings, that always finds the most diverse means of expression when limited by a geographical, national, religious, or familial certainty.

I believe that the true intensity of art must stem from its most nonverbal elements, the exploration of its strictly visual emotive capability. Despite working with rigid and rational intent, it is fundamental that in the finished work, the sentient must take precedence, allowing all explanations to vanish.

—Iliya Mirochnik