Zoomingins.

 

"In March 2020, returning from an art residency, I saw that the streets of my city had emptied. The coronavirus pandemic had begun. People, in a panic, were hiding in their homes, fearing to contract the unknown virus. Then the government declared a lockdown, and we all found ourselves confined to our flats indefinitely.

 

During the lockdown, I felt an emptiness that I hadn't experienced since childhood. Time stretched into an endless "now." Everything lost its meaning. I no longer had goals, tasks, or desires. It was as if the future had been extracted from my mind. Suddenly, I realised that the world was meaningless because the meanings were within me.

 

This frightening realisation compelled me to look at the world anew. Staring into the senseless world, I saw a kaleidoscope with colourful glass pieces. They shimmered with endless patterns.

 

I looked at the cube figure, on which I had been working for the past few years. Its surface also had endless patterns. I magnified them and began to draw.

 

After finishing several paintings, I laid them out in front of me. The geometric patterns on them were beautiful. There was a certain special magic in them. It truly captivated. Perhaps, I thought, this is the magic of the world, where everything that exists, exists just because, without a reason."—Ilya Yod.