Young Russian Artists: The Rite of Spring

"In lockdown I read a poem by W.H. Auden called “If I Could Tell You.” The poem is about time and how one doesn’t know what will happen next; only time can tell. Whenever I felt anxious I would recite a couple of lines from it. I wrote them on the artwork: “Time will say nothing but I told you so/ If I could tell you I would let you know.” The poem’s most inspiring stanza is about the cyclical aspect of nature. 

I decided that my drawing would dwell on this aspect of Auden’s writing. So, I drew how a rose starts with a bulb and grows into a flower before being harvested for its pollen by a bee. Regardless of the pandemic and other human troubles this spring’s cycle will perceive, you will see, “Time will say nothing but I told you so.” - Anastasia Lopoukhine, 2021

@anastasialopalopa