What is change, transformation? I've been seeking an answer to this question for two years now. Our life is a continuous transformation from the very beginning. We are born to constantly change, inside and out. How do we perceive this? Are we ready for our own changes? Are we ready to honestly answer questions about self-acceptance, age, our bodies, and the aging process? I am an artist, and my means of expression are canvas and paint. Through them, I communicate with the world and with myself. Today, I'll show you how one of my paintings is created. I will delve into self-discovery and create a self-portrait because it is an exploration that has no end, and it is always accessible to me. Previously, I focused on the surrounding world and depicted it, but now my main interest lies in people who interest me or whom I know well. I try to understand what is important to them, how time has changed them inside and out, what they fear, what brings them joy, what hinders them, and what they are waiting for. I am concerned with themes of social taboos and boundaries imposed by society. I am confident that societal templates are imprinted on our faces, causing many people to close themselves off from their true selves and try to conform to certain standards. I would like every person in the world, especially women who are still under the pressure of patriarchal values, to enjoy every period of their lives, love their bodies with their natural changes, and see in them a concentration of harmony, perfection, beauty, and the natural flow of life. When we are told to imagine a woman, an image of a woman with beautiful hips and breasts, a young face, and perhaps shoulder-length hair comes to our minds. But women are diverse, and yes, they are not always young; they can have wrinkles, undergo surgery, be weak and fragile. Special women after giving birth to a child, but still: beautiful, incredible, and beautiful, just as nature created them. In society, it is commonly believed that the aging process is something shameful, inevitable, and sad. But is it really? Every change in our bodies is connected to our internal growth and development. We become more experienced, older. Isn't a woman's breast beautiful when she has nursed a child? And the fingers of an elderly woman, reflecting all the years of hard work? When I see my wrinkles, they remind me of folds on the skin of fruits. I admire this amazing world of withering and rebirth. But it's not just external changes; it's also the emotions and experiences I've been through, written on my body like a manifesto. I am proud of them. On my paintings, there are not only people but also their full-fledged partners—fruits or vegetables. With some internal feeling, I usually immediately see the connection between my future model and a specific fruit. They become a whole for me. Perhaps this confirms the idea that we are all connected in this world. Sometimes I create a series of sketches to determine the composition. Next, I draw. At this moment, nothing else exists for me. Only complete immersion and merging with my painting. I disconnect from the world; I live in the canvas. I breathe with it. When I finish the first phase, I part with my painting for a couple of days. I watch it from a distance and analyze it. Sometimes it asks for something to be added or removed. I'm not afraid of experiments or incorrect strokes because sometimes life brings us incredible surprises. What we considered a bad turn of events or a mistake eventually becomes a magnificent opportunity and a fresh new solution. I often think about how to depict time. I believe the principle of the cubists, to paint an object simultaneously from all sides, is ingenious. I took this idea as a basis but applied it not to space but to time. My goal is a new artistic language for depicting time, process, transformation on a static two-dimensional canvas. Transformation is our entire life. It is what happens to us from the first day of birth to our last breath. We find ourselves and lose ourselves; we change and remain the same; we wither and come alive. Do not be afraid of changes. We came to this world for this.