Nika Brazhnyk - In Character

Nika Brazhnyk’s folding screen presents a silent procession of performers: Pierrot, Harlequin, and other half-imagined characters who walk the line between theatre and myth. The figures are suspended in gesture—poised, collapsed, drifting—as if caught between acts or emotions.

The work meditates on duality: joy and melancholy, expression and concealment. Pierrot and Harlequin appear not as opposites, but as reflections—each emotion containing the seed of its twin. The screen itself, traditionally used to divide or shield, here becomes a stage: revealing through fragmentation rather than narrative.

Painted in warm, earthy tones with restrained movement, Brazhnyk’s figures feel timeless yet fragile. Their drama is not theatrical but interior—a quiet play of masks, longing, and delicate posture.

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.