Anastasia Kuznetsova-RufPeephole, 2016 · Buy a print
(from the “From the HOLIDAY to the HOLIDAY” series)
Canvas, charcoal pencil, tempera · 80 × 110 cm · Russia

In childhood, shedding the uninteresting and the intrusive from the realm of play is a breeze. A simple peephole fashioned from cupped palms, much like Rodin's approach to sculpting from a block of marble, trims away all that's surplus.

Nothing is incidental for children. Each detail, every tiny observation, has the potential to etch itself into memory for a lifetime. It's the remarkable skill of children to zero in on what captivates them that empowers them to shed the unnecessary. Just folding hands into a makeshift tube, or shutting out the world entirely by veiling their eyes with their palms, allows them to retreat into a realm of pure imagination.