I was born in the Soviet Union. Even though change was in the air, the propaganda and societal norms were absurdly rigid. There was no freedom of expression, and being different was suppressed. Creativity meant staying within strict lines, while the party’s supremacy overshadowed national identity.
For a long time, I avoided returning to this part of my past. As a child, I accepted it as a form of freedom and did not question it. Only later did its contradictions and restrictions become clear.
UnCurtain (Self-Portrait) is a digital collage series that reflects on the lingering influence of Soviet ideology, the constructed nature of identity, and the difficulty of self-expression within systems that leave little space for individuality. Blending the personal with the political, the work examines where the individual ends and the imposed image begins, and how a sense of self can be reclaimed under the weight of history.
Each image is composed of layered materials, including Soviet-era documents, quotations, symbols, traditional motifs, and photographs from my family archive. The series is ongoing.
