My Shelter by Alexandra Slava Sevostianova

"My Shelter is an autobiographical work that includes my own portrait as well as my mother’s. By first engaging with the emotional intimacy of our relationship and my own personal experiences, I am trying to represent a more universal idea of the strong bond that exists between a mother and her daughter. As a double portrait, it depicts two parallel stories. The first one, revealed by the bittersweet expression of my mother’s face, communicates the beauty of parental love and the painful moment of letting go of her child. The other story conveys a child’s longing for the warm embrace of a loving parent and the frustrations associated with becoming an adult. My Shelter is another chapter in my memoir and an open display of honesty for both myself and my viewers. But however personal it may seem, I believe that the feelings expressed in this piece provide a universal portrayal of complex human relationships." – ALEXANDRA SLAVA SEVOSTIANOVA