Walk

Svitlana Karunskaya's sculpture "Walk" has its own history of formation. Its first version appeared in 1997 as a 20-centimeter composition. More than twenty years later, the artist created an updated version on a large scale. It looks more geometric and grotesque.

“When you make a big version, new thoughts, new experiences, new things that have influenced you come to mind,” says the artist.

The sculpture depicts a man and a woman, seemingly caught in the middle of a movement. Their figures are almost devoid of individual features: their faces are simplified, their heads are slightly tilted, their gestures are restrained. They seem frozen in a moment, connected by an inner rhythm.

The female figure in a long dress and hat is slightly inclined towards her partner: this pose creates a feeling of closeness. The man in a wide-brimmed hat and cloak looks more massive: his silhouette is down-to-earth, with broad shoulders. His figure exudes a sense of composure and inner peace. He “gravitates” more towards the ground, while the female figure stretches upwards, elongated, tense in the vertical. There is a dialogue of forms between them, which enhances the expressiveness of the images.

Grotesque in sculpture is manifested through the stylization of forms, which creates a sense of lyricism and irony. The movement in this composition is felt through the lines of the shoulders, the tilt of the heads, and the soft rhythm of the hands. Their touches convey warmth and trust. In "The Walk," what is important is not the action, but the emotional imprint of the meeting of two people. The characters' clothing is generalized, but reminiscent of the style of the first half of the 20th century, which gives the images a sense of historical time.

The title "Walk" suggests a simple everyday situation, but in Karunska's performance it turns into a generalized metaphor. This is not just a step of two people, but a symbolic act of unity and inner harmony. The sculpture teaches us to look at the everyday as meaningful: a simple walk turns out to be an image of the life path that is overcome together.