Art as a Universal Language: Nadya Tolokonnikova/Pussy Riot’s Political Art

This art causes riots, 2023, mixed media on brocade covered panel, in artist-made frame, 24 x 18″

Yesterday Tonya Turner Carroll, co-founder of [CONTAINER] moderated a conversation between Judy Chicago and Nadya Tolokonnikova at Chicago’s Through the Flower Art Space in Belen, New Mexico. One of the overarching topics of the conversation was the complacency of the American public as our gender equality rights continue to be stripped away. Tolokonnikova and her Pussy Riot collective stood up so bravely to Russian tyranny, with Tolokonnikova being arrested more than 70 times, spending two years in prison, and ultimately living a life in exile.

Image of Nadya Tolokonnikova and Judy Chicago, courtesy Through the Flower Art Space

Several audience members insisted that we need Pussy Riot in the U.S., to shine a bright light on our own blatant human rights violations and to demand change. You can join the Pussy Riot movement by collecting Tolokonnikova’s artworks and sharing their powerful messages of justice by hanging them on your wall and talking about them with your community, in addition to speaking up and acting against injustices in our society. Don’t be quiet, riot!

This art makes you a Pussy Riot member, mixed media on brocade covered panel, in artist-made frame, 2023, 20 x 16″

This art is a hammer that shapes reality…

This and other artworks in Tolokonnikova’s new series “This art is a hammer that shapes reality” draw upon Nadya’s belief that her weapon against tyranny is her art. While Tolokonnikova was imprisoned and in a penal colony in Siberia, she was forced to sew Russian military and police uniforms on malfunctioning sewing machines. Their needles often broke, but the prisoners had to continue working and could not fall behind on their quotas. Even when Nadya’s fingers bled, she still could not leave to have them bandaged.

This art puts you on Russia’s most wanted list, mixed media on brocade covered panel, in artist-made frame, 2023, 20 x 16″

Though Nadya produced police and military uniforms against her will, she became a skilled seamstress. Her use of sewing skills to create anti-authoritarian artworks is a conceptual tour de force. She includes small teddy bears and her signature fluffy frames that evoke humor and the child-like hope needed in order to survive her tortuous imprisonment.

The wounded teddy bears in this work are tattered from use and wounded by life experiences. They remind us that we must all protect our own dreams and ideals. Tolokonnikova asserts that Pussy Riot is inclusive, and anyone can be part of it.

Knife Play, shiv formed from prison bars, mixed media on brocade covered panel, in artist-made frame, 2023, 20 x 16″

Tolokonnikova’s Knife Play series consists of 100 prison shivs assembled using materials a prisoner would have on hand. From the two years she spent in a Siberian penal colony for performing her Punk Prayer in a Moscow Cathedral, Tolokonnikova learned the desperation prisoners can feel due to deprivation of necessities and from oppression. Shivs are objects prisoners craft from rudimentary materials they can find on hand, for use as everyday tools or as weapons. Tolokonnikova used metal from jails to craft these knives, feminizing and humanizing them with elements such as ribbon, plastic flatware, and toothbrushes or combs.
Knife Play, shiv formed from prison bars, mixed media, in artist-made frame, 2023, 20 x 16″
The dangerous potential of these sharp metal objects stands in stark contrast to the “feminine” color and material associations of their brocade mounts and Tolokonnikova’s signature furry frames. By combining such potent weapons with sewing skills, textures, and colors traditionally associated with women, Tolokonnikova claims female power and aesthetic. She uses her artwork as a weapon against the malformed government that imprisoned her and tried to force her into submission.

HAUNTED, mixed media, 2023, 17 x 26 x 28″

HAUNTED!

After serving two years as a political prisoner of the Russian government, Tolokonnikova was diagnosed with PTSD and major depressive disorder. She has since become addicted to antidepressants and as a result has experienced wide-ranging emotional difficulties. This work visualizes the artist’s struggles with mental illness and dependence on pharmaceuticals to numb her pain, creating an everyday environment (a typical suburban house) that is permeated with the poisonous effects of these challenging circumstances. According to the artist, the work asks the question, “can pills make us feel better about a broken world?” This work is accompanied by a gorgeous, meditative soundscape by Bono, referencing Tolokonnikova’s transformation of rage into beauty…

Read Pussy Riot Turns Their Rage into Beauty in Office Magazine

Putin’s Ashes II, photographic print on aluminum, of still from Putin’s Ashes, 2022, short film, 20 x 37.9″

View Editioned Artwork
Putin’s Ashes Editions

Putin’s Ashes editions are stills from Nadya’s August 2022 performance with the same title. In this work, Tolokonnikova burned a 10 x 10 foot portrait of the Russian president, performed rituals, and cast spells to chase Putin away. Twelve women participated in the performance. The participating women had to experience acute hatred and resentment toward the portrait’s subject to join this performance. Most of the participants were either Ukrainian, Belarusian, or Russian. The video was directed and edited by Tolokonnikova, who also composed the original score. The print editions on paper and aluminum capture beautiful and powerful moments from this time-based piece.

Putin’s Ashes 30g, ash relics from Putin’s Ashes performance, mixed media, 2023, 40 x 30″

View all Tolokonnikova Artworks

Tolokonnikova on Lawrence O’Donnell, MSNBC 6/28/23

Live from her re-created prison cell in her [CONTAINER] exhibition, Nadya Tolokonnikova spoke with Lawrence O’Donnell on his MSNBC Last Word, on June 28. She spoke about the week’s events in Russia, and the actions against the Russian tyrant from within.

Tolokonnikova placed the prison shivs she fabricated for her artworks on her cell bed and night stand. She wore her signature Pussy Riot balaclava, and spoke bravely against Russian tyranny.

Candid shots from the opening at [CONTAINER] and Nadya’s talk at the New Mexico Museum of Art

ABOUT CONTAINER Opened in 2022, [CONTAINER] is a hybrid museum-gallery space and an important and unique development in the way people access art. [CONTAINER] is agile and responsive as a private venture, showing exhibitions at the forefront of contemporary artistic dialogs. [CONTAINER] is a function of Turner Carroll Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For the past three decades, the Turner Carroll family has dedicated itself to championing visionary artists. [CONTAINER] has cultivated meaningful relationships with public institutions around the world, [CONTAINER] is a celebration and amplification of these partnerships and the deeply-held belief that Art Transforms.