painful subjects
In 2016 Yelena began to work on a visual diary that she published on Instagram to explore influence of social media on her artistic process. The idea was to document one artwork a day by appropriating the motto: “start where you are, do what you can with what you have”. Yelena undertook the challenge to commit at least 30 minutes a day to her artistic practice despite her limitations. Instead of a studio, that she did not have, Yelena used a white wall in her house. Because of a lack of funds for materials, Yelena used any object at hand, investing the bare minimum when needed, while recycling as much as possible. The challenge was to use simple means in resourceful ways. While interacting with objects, Yelena's pathological relationship to things as an obsessive-compulsive hoarder began to reflect in her work. Things overwhelm Yelena with their presence and cause discomfort that is translated onto the viewer.
