"My Six-Faced Diamond" is a collection of 60 drawings.

It begins with a short visual narrative (the first 14 drawings) depicting a young matryoshka experiencing six emotions. What starts as an innocent family scene transforms into a dreamlike journey through both happy dreams and nightmares.

This project originally aimed to develop a series of illustrated stories about emotions. The geometry of the matryoshkas offers perfect symbolism for this purpose, as six emotions coexist within a single figure—six emotions within one person. However, Russia’s war against Ukraine poisoned everything. The matryoshkas, a Russian symbol, began to feel different to me. I couldn't help but notice how all the drawings turned into nightmares, breaking away from the original pedagogical and cheerful intent of the idea.

To make matters worse, my friend Anna Tiseiko, who lives in the apartment below my mother’s, is an excellent illustrator and was born in Ukraine. When she saw the drawings, she said they were beautiful, but her expression was slightly strained: the project could not be separated from Russian culture, and for her, that was a source of pain. Watching the news from afar is not the same as being from there and personally knowing the tragedy.

Moreover, Ukrainian girls have their own traditional doll—the Motanka, a handmade rag doll crafted without a single stitch and tied with strings. This doll is made by hand as a gift for one's best friend. The knots symbolize unity and commitment to friendship, and its face has no eyes or mouth, preventing it from expressing emotions. This is because friendship should stand above fleeting emotional states. The complete opposite of what my matryoshka does...