the turquoise ether magazine’s mission is to publish independent critical reviews of promising artists from over The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Turquoise #4 — Anastasia Bankova (Russia)

Anastasia Bankova is a contemporary Russian artist. She uses a variety of techniques in her art practice, including graphics, painting, and ceramics.

The main theme of Anastasia“s body of work is the study of the modern understanding of hedonism. Anastasia Bankova”s depiction of hedonism is a complex phenomenon that delves into capitalist phantasms, the fullness and emptiness of being, and the criticism of vitalism.

Her objects of sensual pleasure exist somewhere in the gap between the Hindu indriyas and the actual objects of Gilles Deleuze. These unique optics and perspective allow the artist to work in the field of non-obvious, but relevant artistic expression which is defined by its fluidity.

To dissect hedonism as a simulacrum of a consumer society, Anastasia employs kitsch, references to traditional crafts, and a combination of sophisticated pictorial techniques with primitivist narratives. Hedonism of this kind exists only where it is impossible to satisfy one“s needs, where there is class stratification and frustration regarding a prosperous future. Anastasia Bankova”s ceramic art objects are an embodied combination of instruction, a call to sexualized action and the reconstruction of sexualized impulses of the modern urban environment.

This artistic talent and versatility, combined with black humor and social commentary about public violence and injustice, creates a field of sensitive spectator tension. Global hedonism crumbles into 7 billion viewers' personal hedonisms. This process exposes the mechanisms of a possible unification of people.