Ivan Lendiaiev - Girls #5

This painting is part of a five-part series titled Girls, made using a tattoo machine to draw directly onto canvas. The method is deliberate: a tool meant for skin is redirected onto fabric—introducing both intimacy and discomfort into the act of mark-making.

Each figure in the series is stripped of identity, yet charged with emotional weight. These are not portraits but studies in presence. Playfulness, stillness, confidence, curiosity—all appear as stylized types rather than individuals. Long braids fall like architectural columns. Fabrics curve like frozen gestures. Every line feels both precise and devotional.

There is no clear narrative. Instead, the viewer is asked to sit with these bodies—half-icon, half-effigy—and read not meaning, but mood.

This piece was featured in Best of AVU, Summer 2025 at HIDDEN Gallery—a curated showcase of standout works by emerging students from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.