Vast Miniatures, 2013, pit, 1 × 1 × 1 cm each
Immense Miniatures
The inspiration for Immense Miniatures is one of the exhibits displayed at the Armory Chamber (Оружейная палата) in the Moscow Kremlin. It is a carved apricot kernel that features the entire enormous Kremlin. The reason for this object in the exhibition is to show the incredible skill of Russian man. Another source of inspiration is the awareness of the enormous cruelty to such incredible Russian people, dying by the millions in Russian Gulags.
The Immense Miniatures are cherry pits which do not depict the grand Kremlin, but an infinitely larger giant Gulag where these resourceful Russian people were insidiously and anonymously murdered. The pits tell of the immense atrocities committed in the faraway Siberia. In this case, the unimaginable vastness of this area is concentrated almost in just one point of this miniature pit. The scene is so subtle that it can only be seen under the magnifying glass.