sunflowers, 2025
Dmitry Koldyaev, engineer
Tezcatlipoca — translated as the "Smoking Mirror" — was a deity of the later Maya and Aztecs. Through this mirror, he observed the doings of humans on earth. There’s also a saying: “And how do they look themselves in the mirror every morning?” Now, during the era of wars, I hear it more often than ever in my mother tongue. The speaker is implying immoral behaviour and appealing to conscience. Mirror = a tool for moral conscience. A symbolic equation. One that more often fails than functions. Nevertheless, sunflower is a symbol of zest for life and optimism. And a symbol of Ukraine as well, which has been bleeding in war for the third year.