2026
Egg tempera on wood
27,8 x 43,4 cm (diptych)
The arched diptych deepens the exploration of architectural tectonics and the labyrinths of personal memory, combining ancient geometry, Renaissance spiritualism, and the Russian architectural avant-garde within a single pictorial frame. The main organizing element of the panels is the monumental coffered structure of the dome of the Roman Pantheon. Like Piero della Francesca, who placed his characters within impeccably calculated spaces, Smirnoff transforms the strict grid of coffers into a metaphysical vault, supporting the fragile inner world of the painting. The upper part of the composition reveals subtle ornamental geometry, again alluding to the tent structure of the fresco Madonna del Parto. In the foreground of the right panel, a woman's face appears in a golden-azure shawl. Her gentle gaze is directed toward the viewer, conveying a distilled silence and asceticism. On the left side of the diptych, within a mirror sphere, this image doubles, transforming into a completely concealed golden silhouette. This design offers a direct reference to the veiled, half-erased portraits of Barry X-Ball, where the reflection is stripped of its individual features, retreating into a realm of pure plastic form. The internal mirror spheres are painted a pastel gray-blue and strewn with twinkling stars, creating an overall atmosphere of tender lyricism and quiet melancholy. The most intriguing element is the sudden appearance iof the famous hexagonal window from the Moscow home of architect Konstantin Melnikov. This deeply personal pictographic code of the artist connects her Russian roots with the European tradition of the Quattrocento. Within the mystical opening, as in a miniature twilight freeze frame, a melancholic landscape with a pond and a drooping tree is discernible. This avant-garde element becomes a somewhat portal to a realm of loss and rebirth.