Valery Pchelin. The Meaning Of The Drifters

VALERY PCHELIN:

I am a drifter. I move along, learning things, discovering things. The name Drifter does not pertain to the object alone, but to the whole process, everything that goes into it. Here they are, the Drifters, and here I am, their creator, developing with them.

For me, the Drifters have become instruments for getting to know reality.

SVETLANA GRIDCHINA, GRIDCHINHALL GALLERY OWNER, REFLECTING ON VALERY PCHELIN’S ART OBJECTS, DRIFTERS

The Cossacks have gone down in history as protectors of the frontiers of our homeland. Reflecting on the Cossack spirit embodied by Drifters, I think about borders first of all. The border inside us, which is so sensitive to our social environment.  

As we follow the path laid out for us, we protect our identity and our inviolable space, sometimes even taking someone else’s. We act like the Cossacks of old -- cheerful, free-spirited, and rather combative.

Territory redistribution can occur on a personal level or in larger social contexts. As the Cossacks, under Bolshevik pressure, once relinquished the ways of their forefathers, so might we sometimes cave in to external influences.  

In life sometimes we are defenders and sometimes attackers, but the focus of our effort is always to keep our territory inviolate