Kyiv, December 2017. This 16 floor building was always the view from my window while I was living in Ukraine. Such a lonely monster in the center of a sleepy area surrounded by the "mere mortals" that were the 5 floor khrushchevkas. But only after my move and then, alas, irregular visits, I began to see what I had not noticed before (everything is relative, huh?), such as the Soviet architecture, which is so characteristic of brutal simplicity, the austerity of forms, and cost-effectiveness of decisions. Looking at this building with new eyes, it dawned on me what a giant beehive it is, how close and densely packed this Cthulhu of super-industrialization is. Standing next to it, I can't help but feel like a concrete tsunami of Plattenbau is about to swallow me. A horrifying beauty.

Karyna Aslanova is a Kyiv-born Ukrainian multimedia artist, director, and photographer. Karyna studied Theatre Directing at The National Academy of Government Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts, Kyiv, Ukraine and although photography is her principle medium, Karyna also uses video, painting and illustration, and poetry to further her exploration into a multitude of subjects. Karyna’s art photography projects often use other-worldly imagery to reflect modern social issues, with a vague but familiar base note perceptible through a haze of the strange and incongruous.