this picture never existed by Yanina Zaichanka moves through layers of absence in the attempt to connect with their late grandmother, Klava. When Klava was three, her parents were forcibly relocated to the Ural Mountains and followed her life through letters; a black-and-white portrait, with a written description on the reverse, remained as a fragile trace. That portrait is now missing, leaving only faint recollection and longing.

Recalled through embroidery and spoken word, the absent image becomes the exhibition’s central motif. A multichannel sound installation gathers repeated attempts to narrate Klava’s life from fragmented, flawed accounts.

The exhibition is Zaichanka’s MFA graduation project at the Academy of Fine Art, Oslo National Academy of the Arts.