In the 1980s, we were born as the last generation of soviet citizens, growing up as Little Octobrists or Young Pioneers. We watched the same animated cartoons and were educated according to similar principles, sharing a common language. During our childhood, we saw the demise of communism with our own eyes, witnessing the eventful time of Perestroika. Being teenagers in the 1990s, we watched our fundamentals, traditions, ways of life and mentalities break apart and forced to be redefined. Many of us emigrated after the fall of the SU to countries all around the world, places where we are living today in the middle of a capitalistic world. Having in mind the aspects that connect us to each other, I am portraying members of this generation – my generation. The Iconography of the time is rebuilt using contemporary elements, breaking the overdrawn aesthetics of historical propaganda posters that symbolize the country where we once lived. Scenery, posture and accessories refer to those stereotypical elements. Soviet ideology symbols and modern young individualist portrayed within their framework are at opposition with each other. Those symbols are viewed by my generation as a grotesque mixture of both disconcertment and home. How much homeland is within us? How much identity did we take with us from a land, whose icons always opposed the personal search for individuality of every one of us?
