Nadezhda Elkina

The Weight of Guilt

“ The Weight of Guilt ” collection is dedicated to my experiences of the criminal war in Ukraine, which my country has unleashed. An unbearable burden of guilt, pain, despair, fear, and powerless anger – these are the feelings I would like to convey. The central elements of all the decorations are fragments of a Russian bomb that exploded near my friend’s house in Kharkiv in the spring of 2022. This is what he told me: “Mom was in western Ukraine; father was at the front. Volunteers lived in the house, but they managed to hide in the cellar. The bomb exploded in the garden. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But all that was left of the garden and outbuildings now remains just memories". My friend gave these fragments to me in December 2023. I want to show that war is a tangible fear and that it is a reality for many millions of people now. I urge my fellow citizens to come to their senses, to realize and accept the full guilt of this ongoing horror. Only the acceptance of guilt can bring us back to the path of humanity.

---

I was born in 1982 in Kazan, Russia. I received my musical education as a pianist at the Kazan Conservatory. In 2006, I began creating my first jewellery from polymer clay. I studied the basics of jewellery making and working with metals independently. Since 2011, I continued my studies working at a jewellery workshop in Kazan. In 2013, I created a YouTube channel to share my original techniques for working with polymer clay. I participated actively in a few exhibitions and competitions. I have several publications in various magazines, including the Polymerweek magazine. In 2016, I left Russia for political reasons. Now I live with my family in Poland, Wroclaw.



https://www.instagram.com/nadia__elkina?igsh=Y2hzbzdhZHFuNDM5