NADA Miami 2023

Ala Savashevich’s “Ladies” wooden sculptures are a continuation of the artist’s research into the mechanisms of the socialization of women’s roles in family systems, education and the gender division of labour. The artist analyses how women’s identities are formed not only in authoritarian societies, but also in social systems dictated by patriarchy.

The artist, who is originally from Belarus, makes direct reference in her series of sculptures to the history of Belarusian folk art - the motif of the folk cut-out, which was used as an interior decoration in the territories of Belarus, Poland and Ukraine. In the territory of Belarus, straw intarsia began to spread as a domestic occupation among peasants in the 19th and 20th centuries and developed as a folk-art form. Combining these techniques in “Ladies”, the artist depicts symmetrical female figures in furious, ready-to-attack positions. The gold color lends a kind of sanctity to the works, and also refers to the sanctity of the work and effort that women face in their daily work.