About the Works

Mykola Trokh has taken the world of art by storm — his arrival was unannounced and sudden. He is completely self-taught and that makes him stand aside from the rest of his colleagues. Back in the day the Soviet education system did not teach professional photography because ideologically it did not consider it a higher art form. He creates his first graphic works at the start of the 1980s, his early work lacks depth, it is fragmentary and naïve. Perhaps, Trokh would have never become a professional artist if it hasn’t been for the event which changed his life forever: on his 25th birthday which is on March 15, 1986 he buys himself a camera and starts taking pictures. The photos he took in 1986–1989 are no different in theme and artistic design from what was usually printed in the Soviet mainstream photo magazines. His work takes a different angle when the artist attempts to combine photography with collage, clipart, and graphics. Trokh’s artistic method has developed rapidly, and it is reflected in his work from 1990–1991. Almost every print ever produced by Trokh is somehow altered as the artist introduces new colours and shades. It makes the artist’s original work extremely valuable and at the same time negates the importance of the negative print, traditionally considered an essential medium in photography. Trokh’s key means of artistic expression is colour. The spectrum of colour depends on the artistic purpose — the artist uses slight tones in most of the artwork of the period, the rest of the photographs are artificially coloured. Trokh’s use of colour dominates his artwork, by adding large patches of paint the artist also tells his story. Trokh’s is very particular about his photo props — they either strengthen the model’s individual characteristics or alter the model’s appearance so much it becomes unrecognisable. In around 1992 Trokh introduces another technique — he starts to cover his pictures with text, reminiscent of linear writing. It’s almost impossible to decipher and it was the artist’s intent to make the process as difficult as possible by introducing mystic writings, incomplete sentences, and ambiguity.

Valerii Sakharuk