holy me
This installation challenges traditional boundaries between the sacred and the profane, while drawing from feminist theory to explore self-representation, agency, and power. Inspired by themes of “bare life” and religious iconography, this installation features transparent objects, some found and some made specifically for this work, arranged to mimic a holy altar. This setup draws on the Russian Orthodox aesthetic, referencing Yelena´s personal history of baptism within the church, but here she reimagines herself as a saint. Through this rebranding of herself as a religious icon, Yelena confronts patriarchal structures that have historically restricted women’s authority, especially in religious spaces. The repeated imagery of Yelena holding a plate as a halo and the initials “YM” and ¨Art Dir¨(for Yelena Myshko, Art Director) turn her own image into an icon, symbolizing the assertion of creative power. A business card with sacred altar bread shaped like a circular saw, marked with her initials, subverts traditional religious symbolism; it invites viewers to join her “communion,” establishing her own quasi-religion of personal empowerment and creative autonomy. This bold, blasphemous element critiques the limitations imposed on women by conventional religious doctrines, using humor and defiance to reclaim agency over spiritual symbols. The project’s feminist dimension lies in its assertion of female self-authorship in a space typically dominated by male authority figures. By branding herself as a saint and inviting communion on her own terms, Yelena uses the aesthetics of holiness to redefine divinity as inclusive of feminine power and autonomy, challenging the viewer to consider who has the right to be venerated and what it means to take creative control of one’s own image.
