Daniil Shumikhin "Sitting Figures"

Much as “the Other” is needed to denote difference, this figure is also necessary to mark the similarities, the shared traits, equality. This explains why Daniil Shumikhin needed at least two figures to convey the idea of his Sitting Figures.

The two sitting figures are deliberately simplified, stripped of all signs of difference or identifying characteristics, to be interpreted as a generalized image of a human being. According to the artist, they symbolize equality: social equality, racial equality, gender equality. “Despite the similarities between their bodies, their difference might lie in their levels of knowledge, life experience, and knowing how to use it.” The silhouettes and lines of these ostensibly static bodies and the juxtaposition of the planes that create the forms do carry dynamics and a potential for transformation: “The figures are motionless and passive, but the lines of their bodies betray the coming change which might be just a moment away. These quiet transformations produce coordinated and not mutually contradictory actions and congruencies, which, taken broadly, denote equality.”

Synchronized in their unhurried transformation, the characters coexist in this unique balance. Their similarity means that they are harmonized and of a piece rather than totally identical. Identical exterior presupposes the possibility of divergent content. This nuanced approach allows the artist to address the pressing issues of today while staying within the realm of artistic imagery and avoiding literalism in his statements.