A graphic series of three related works was conceived and partially created during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Being in self-isolation, devoid of new impressions and experiences, I plunged into reflection and rethinking of the strong and amazing, but at the same time painful love, experienced shortly before the quarantine.

Memorial — a monument at a burial, in this context, moves to the cemetery of memories. Among gloomy snow-covered tombstones, three vivid scenes appear before our eyes, illustrating and documenting the events of those days and our strange but exciting encounters. These glimpses of memories — all I have left of those events. In the world of general confusion, everything material seems to lose any meaning, feelings and communication between people «offline», on the contrary, acquire great value.

What if falling in love, a touch or a hug will never be possible again in a «pre-quarantine» form? What if all of this happened to me for the last time? I am a kinesthetic, deprived of the opportunity and the right to touch the object of my love.

The series resonates with the book «A Lover's Discourse: Fragments» by Roland Barthes, which caught my eye at the timing that couldn't be more fortuitous — at the beginning of the pandemic. In these works, I return to the feeling of falling in love, as to the memories of an experienced miracle, and propose the following basic scenarios:

«YES», «NO», «NEITHER YES, NOR NO»

Against the background of the surrounding gloomy world cemetery, three vivid scenes-memories come to life and, as if on a stage, unfold:

(descriptions are given in the sequence according the events unfolded in real life)

The most laconic memorial project, devoid of outside interpretations. Here the main characters, similar to each other, like reflections, unexpectedly meet and magically attract. Their poses and depicted objects (veil, chuppah, glass of wine) hint at a kind of wedding ceremony, the culmination of which is always an agreement - «YES» (Love is agreement, which means the word «Yes»). However, very similar creatures often look at each other as if in a mirror, and then break it. Reflections are doomed to be eventually broken. YES, «ДА» in Russian is always «АД» in the reflection, which means HELL.

When two representatives of the zodiacal sign Pisces meet, it turns out that they are not two, but four fish "in one aquarium" (the canonical image of this sign is two fish swimming in different directions — a symbol of duality, ambiguity).

The main characters here are really very ambiguous: she is a black lioness-manticore and a white dog-fish at the same time, while he is a white, as if carved from Carrara marble, mermaid —and also a black snake-fish. In general, the composition of the work hints at a kind of yin-yang.

The characters are depicted in a state of extreme tension and even aggression. Their falling in love is a semblance of a survival game, allegorically represented here by the struggle between a dog and a snake — it is not yet clear who will win.

One of the characters looks at this fight as if it was a nightmare, but he is a snake — potentially more dangerous animal — while the manticore lioness beats the "enemy" with a red wedge "Surrender!" ("Сдавайся!")

This memorial unfolds a magical Hoffmanian style scene with the attributes of the forthcoming New Year. Future always means uncertainty, it is always «neither yes, nor no». The main characters here do not make any promises to each other. A Christmas tree branch with toys pierces the heroine's heart. Multi-colored bright garlands fold into habitual, even mocking «Happy 2020th year» (now we already know what this year has turned out to be for all of us).

We will definitely be happy and, most likely, will never touch each other again.