Exit Stage Left

The only constant is change. Sometimes it’s simple, other times it can consume the very person you once identified as being yourself. Pregnancy, break ups, traffic heavier than usual on the way to work…and your coffee spilled.

Alina has an interesting relationship with change, it shows in her work. She paints over pieces she hasn’t even taken a picture of, going solely off of memory to remember what it once was. There was some type of acceptance of the past in that, with an eye for the present.

I had never met Alina before this. I had associated her with a different name, “Stage” which I picked up from our association on social media. Out of curiosity, I brought it up. She mentioned multiple meanings, how her mom’s nickname was “Sage” and how a trip to a museum with friends helped her coin the nickname. Most importantly, it is a sentiment to how all of us, in art and life, put ourselves on a figurative stage when we present ourselves to be viewed by others.

“All the world’s a stage.”

In the end, Alina is somewhat shedding the name, at least for now, to embrace the change she’s been feeling.

(on her work)

“How do you know when it’s done?”

“It’s not. It’s never done. I can pick up any piece and start working on it again. It’s more about feeling satisfied with what you’ve done at the time and putting it down for a while. But it never really has an end point.”

Spending time Alina and her family, it was very clear, very quickly, how important having them around her was. She used words like “superhero” and “backbone” when speaking about them. Her mom in particular, whom she mentioned helped start her pursuit of art at a very young age, a 3rd grade art contest to be exact. It was an anti-smoking painting.

Every family goes through a tough phase. Pregnancy for Alina, was that time. She spoke about how isolated she felt from her family, and how she used art to get through it. Her relationship to both seemed intertwined together, and it’s infectious. So much so that when I first came to her house, her daughter and little cousin showed me the paintings they had just made, still with some dry paint on them. This was a symbol of Alina’s impact on those around in, right there in physical form.

you can find Alina and her work on Instagram @cocalina7