Celina Kanunnikava

Celina Kanunnikava is a Belarusian painter, inspired by both her personal experiences and a broader reflection on the functioning of totalitarian systems, as well as the contemporary perceptions of patriotism through the prism of nostalgia for greatness and the cult of tragedy. Kanunnikava depicts monumental and oppressive architecture, characteristic of totalitarian regimes. Her large-format paintings depict prison buildings, governmental offices and ministerial buildings, command posts, administrative headquarters, archives and headquarters of propaganda media outlets. A component of many of such buildings is the impenetrable darkness that not only fills their windows, but also spills out onto their façades like a thick, tar-like liquid. Another leitmotiv of her canvases is a terrazzo-like surface. Widely used not only in the production of floors but also tombstones, in Kanunnikava's painting, it reappears as a sea of human heads, captured from a bird's eye view during demonstrations.