About Me
My name is Elena Tepukhina. I work with collage as a method of testimony. I sift through printed materials—old newspapers, magazines, packaging—and from them, I assemble fragments of time. These fragments form minimalistic compositions: most often, these consist of three elements and negative space.
I strive to speak simply and select only those fragments that truly resonate. I am not afraid of emptiness, nor do I aim to over-explain—for me, it is vital to leave space for the viewer, through an attempt to capture the state of time as I perceive it.
My practice is a dialogue with the future viewer and an attempt to preserve the cultural code of an era through simple, vulnerable, and honest visual gestures. I am fascinated by how visual fragments from the past resonate with the present—how simple objects and signs generate new narratives and meanings. I want to continue working with archival optics, exploring everyday life, and capturing it in the moment so that these fragments of time become a dialogue between generations and epochs.
Traces of Presence 2024 14.8×21 cm
From the perspective of archaeology of meaning, the 90s interest me as a moment of rupture. Old rules ceased to function faster than new ones emerged. Everything existed in a state of chaos, which at the time felt like freedom. Now, for me, chaos equates to fatigue.
Everyday life in the 90s changed dramatically: visual noise, advertising everywhere, packaging for everything under the sun. We moved from scarcity to excess, in order to eventually return to simplicity.
To me, the 90s were like a warm-up period, if we’re speaking in sports terms. It was a time when society was just warming up before the bolder, freer 2000s—experimenting with new ways of life and new rules, without fully grasping where it would lead.
Today, the surrounding world, conversely, feels like a cool-down. As if there is movement, but it is already fatigued.
Mass Movement 2024 14.8×21 cm
When speaking about 90s artists, what matters to me is not replicating their gestures, but finding underlying resonances. I am interested in the freedom with which these artists engaged with reality—with humble materials, urban space, and self-publishing. Not as a style, but as a stance—a way to speak directly, without intermediaries.
All Inclusive 2025 14.8×21 cm
The opportunity to work with archives and materials related to Larisa Kashuk’s self-publishing feels like a gift—a chance to see the perspective of late 20th-century artists and compare it with the current worldview of an artist.
Elena Tepukhina
+7 967 151-02-90 eltepukhina@gmail.com @collage.by.lena
