Yana

Dimensions: 27.80 H × 20.08 W in
Medium: Acrylic on colored paper
Year: 2026

A portrait of a young woman in strong backlight — a quiet moment of inner reflection, holding a sense of calm, gentle melancholy, and anticipation of change.

In this work, I wanted to convey not so much Yana’s appearance as her inner state. Although sunlight seems to envelop her face, hair, and body, she remains immersed in her own world — thoughtful, slightly distant, perhaps dreaming of something. I was drawn to that particular moment when something is coming to an end while something new is only beginning to take shape. It is not a dramatic sadness, but rather a quiet feeling of saying goodbye to what has been left behind, together with a calm acceptance of the changes ahead.

The work is executed in acrylic on toned red paper. I used broad, expressive brushstrokes to preserve a sense of lightness, movement, and the elusive quality of light. Color reflections across the skin and hair convey the play of sunlight and its interaction with the surface. Certain areas of the portrait are intentionally left unfinished, allowing the red of the paper to show through and become part of the overall color harmony. This unfinished quality is important to me — it preserves a sense of air, movement, and a moment that has not yet fully settled into a fixed form.