Mark Yashaev

Inkjet print on fine art barret, 150 X 180 cm., 2016 (2 from 5)

Where does reality end and the artwork begins? Perhaps there are no boundaries between them. Yashaev's art blurs these boundaries twice. First in the act of photographing, and then in the way the photo is displayed in the exhibition space.
 
Many of the artist's artworks are large-scale photos, positioned in rooms, then photographed again. These photos within photos are printed and displayed, expanding the space in which they are placed. In this space, the presence of a figure adds intimacy. With each new positioning, the correspondence between the artwork and the place enhances the work's presence and depth. Doorways, decomposed flooring and pieces of furniture create an invented space.
 
Upon entering the exhibition where Yashaev's work is presented, the visitor is required to solve the riddle of that space. She finds that she herself is now part of the space, or part of that artwork. It is a conscious process of deception and illusion, with a sense of deeper significance. It is no longer an act of capturing a moment in time, but rather the invention of one. By assembling layers of time and place, Yashaev transports us, the viewers, to a new dimension of reality.