ELENA KALKOVA, Artist

WARRIOR ETHOS

Elena will create a sculptural bas-relief installation. WARRIOR ETHOS is 3 contemporary reliefs of today’s war battles, glorified and tragic, of an American military composition, but eroticized by the presence of queer soldiers. I am an interdisciplinary artist, researcher and educator born in 1991 in Russia and living and working in Newburgh, NY. My works are rooted in my own experience of growing up during the collapse of the Soviet Union and coming of age experiencing the roller coaster of hope and failure of a sinking country, as well as my immigrant experience, and my deep interest in sculpture, translation and philosophy.  

Elena Kalkova is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher. Her research explores the weaponization of memory, counter-memory as a form of resistance, state propaganda, systems of oppression and violence. Other areas Kalkova focuses on are the complex relationships with home, especially when the home is a dictatorship, as well as translation and Russian feminist and queer art. Kalkova holds a BA in Linguistics, Cultural Studies and Education from Tver State University, Russia, an MA in Global Arts and Cultures from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts (SVA). Currently she is working as a lecturer at RISD and SUNY and lives and has her studio in Newburgh, NY. https://elenakalkova.net/