Yuliya Lanina: Mishka

 
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Artist Statement:


    Mishka is a playful depiction of human nature and culture. The main protagonist, a little monkey with a human face, is tired of his corruptive life. He goes from one doll party to another without much joy or engagement. But his life is changed when a three-eyed crawling creature appears and brings Mishka to a mystical place of purity and innocence. By attempting to steal the eggs from the Bird Queen, Mishka breaks the sacred rules and is taken to hell. His soul is taken by Death, and he returns to the world as a mechanical doll whose only purpose is to entertain.
    Yuliya Lanina is a Russian-born American artist living and working in New York City who creates alternate realities based on sexuality, fetishism, and identity. All of her characters are dolls and toys made from dissembled parts that have been restructured with other found objects, which makes her works visually provocative. They are both dainty and disturbing, and the viewer is simultaneously drawn in and repelled. The modifications to the figures are both visual and electronic as they become robotic creatures with altered functional capabilities. Characters, sets, storyline, music, editing, and choreography are all Lanina’s creation.