Eurasian Cultural Alliance Public Association
Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty
Nurmakov str, 79
For all inquires please contact vladislavsludskiy@gmail.com
Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty
Nurmakov str, 79
For all inquires please contact vladislavsludskiy@gmail.com
YELENA AND VIKTOR VOROBYEVS
WINDOW
WINDOW
SEPTEMBER 4 - OCTOBER 4, 2025
Egin Art Space, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Egin Art Space, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Geometry of Prophecy:
the Mandala, Macbeth’s Dilemma and Metaphysical Imagination
Aleksey Ulko
The Installation as Prophetic Structure
The works of Elena and Viktor Vorobyevs, though grounded in the physical world, invite esoteric readings. Their installation Window presents twelve graphic sheets, variations of a single photograph taken from the artists’ flat on Saturday, 1 June 2020, at precisely 13:55:37. While the image’s origin lies in the COVID-19 pandemic, the series transcends its immediate context, evoking alternative temporal, spatial and psychological dimensions. Each of the four triptychs documents a shifting urban landscape, marked by grotesque and ominous transformations.
The arrangement of these twelve sheets suggests, on one level, a Buddhist mandala, with four coloured gates aligned to the cardinal directions. On another, each triptych follows a recurring spatio-temporal logic, repeated four times. These quadrants blend Buddhist iconography and Christian prophetic archetypes with comic-book aesthetics and contemporary conspiracy imagery. The result is a sacred cartography of a postmodern yurt , invaded by four elemental symbols: volcanic lava, the Moon, the Flood and UFOs.
The installation may be read as a sardonic remark on religious imagination, though not in any conventional sense. The twelve sheets also resemble four versions of a prophecy offered by the three Weird Sisters to Macbeth. Here, prophecy is not a straightforward prediction but a performative act embedded within a preordained space.
the Mandala, Macbeth’s Dilemma and Metaphysical Imagination
Aleksey Ulko
The Installation as Prophetic Structure
The works of Elena and Viktor Vorobyevs, though grounded in the physical world, invite esoteric readings. Their installation Window presents twelve graphic sheets, variations of a single photograph taken from the artists’ flat on Saturday, 1 June 2020, at precisely 13:55:37. While the image’s origin lies in the COVID-19 pandemic, the series transcends its immediate context, evoking alternative temporal, spatial and psychological dimensions. Each of the four triptychs documents a shifting urban landscape, marked by grotesque and ominous transformations.
The arrangement of these twelve sheets suggests, on one level, a Buddhist mandala, with four coloured gates aligned to the cardinal directions. On another, each triptych follows a recurring spatio-temporal logic, repeated four times. These quadrants blend Buddhist iconography and Christian prophetic archetypes with comic-book aesthetics and contemporary conspiracy imagery. The result is a sacred cartography of a postmodern yurt , invaded by four elemental symbols: volcanic lava, the Moon, the Flood and UFOs.
The installation may be read as a sardonic remark on religious imagination, though not in any conventional sense. The twelve sheets also resemble four versions of a prophecy offered by the three Weird Sisters to Macbeth. Here, prophecy is not a straightforward prediction but a performative act embedded within a preordained space.
The first window opens onto a landscape of identity and memory, corresponding to the first prophecy, already fulfilled and known: Macbeth is Thane of Glamis. This affirms stability, conveyed through familiar scenery, natural light and moral equilibrium. The window acts as both conduit and barrier between inner consciousness and external reality. The second window introduces political ambiguity, anticipating Macbeth’s new title as Thane of Cawdor. The prophecy distorts the landscape, introducing ethical instability. The window becomes a site of transformation, where the link between the first and second image is non-linear and wholly dependent on the viewer’s interpretation. The third window marks the narrative climax: “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” The prophecy activates a future that is both seductive and destructive. Intensifying objects (water, lava, the Moon and flying saucers) press against the window, which loses its protective function and becomes a port al through which catastrophe enters the viewer’s space. What once appeared as triumph now leads to ontological collapse.
The video Colouristic Exercises reinforces this prophetic geometry from within. The window, both literal and metaphorical, grows into a world gradually engulfed by a global flood. Water, infused with swirling blue droplets, becomes a medium through which emotion transforms into religious experience. This chromatic shift signals a movement from affect to vision from psychological response to metaphysical ecology.
The installation thus traces the evolution of ecological consciousness, where the everyday is reimagined through symbolic gestures and metaphysical categories. The object Radiance concludes the cycle: a stone, alchemically transfigured within the blue world, yet forced back to the material reality of the room.
The installation thus traces the evolution of ecological consciousness, where the everyday is reimagined through symbolic gestures and metaphysical categories. The object Radiance concludes the cycle: a stone, alchemically transfigured within the blue world, yet forced back to the material reality of the room.
The conceptual structure of Window resembles a mandala, merging Buddhist iconography with Christian evangelist symbolism and modern cultural metaphors. Each window corresponds to a cardinal direction, linking elemental forces, religious archetypes and metaphysical principles within a single, unsettling space. Here unfolds a dialogue between the spiritual semantics of the outer world and the viewer’s performative imagination. Like the witches’ prophecies in Macbeth, the installation rejects linear narrative in favour of simultaneous scenarios. Meaning arises through the viewer’s interpretive act—a speculative curve connecting disparate symbols, styles and temporal registers.
Viewed through the lens of pandemic anxiety, Buddhist cosmology, conspiracy comics or apocalyptic imagination, the Vorobyevs’ work becomes an invitation to generate new meanings—mutually exclusive yet coexistent.
Viewed through the lens of pandemic anxiety, Buddhist cosmology, conspiracy comics or apocalyptic imagination, the Vorobyevs’ work becomes an invitation to generate new meanings—mutually exclusive yet coexistent.
Western Window: Volcano, Fire, Lion
The western gate is marked by the volcano, symbolising fire as a force of transformation, creation, and destruction. This elemental energy aligns with Saint Mark’s red lion and protective deities such as Amitabha Buddha, embodying wisdom and compassion. Lava functions here as catharsis, an alchemical principle affirming subjective vitality. The metamorphosis of the Almaty mountains into volcanic forms suggests latent energies that inspire awe and fear among local inhabitants.
The western gate is marked by the volcano, symbolising fire as a force of transformation, creation, and destruction. This elemental energy aligns with Saint Mark’s red lion and protective deities such as Amitabha Buddha, embodying wisdom and compassion. Lava functions here as catharsis, an alchemical principle affirming subjective vitality. The metamorphosis of the Almaty mountains into volcanic forms suggests latent energies that inspire awe and fear among local inhabitants.
Southern Window: Moon, Earth, Bull
The southern gate engages themes of stability and introspection. The Moon governs tides and cyclical time, evoking metaphysical continuity and its potential rupture. Its orbital displacement renders it a symbol of existential fragility, echoing the final images of Lars von Trier’s Melancholia. The bull, associated with Saint Luke and Buddhist ideals of humility and labour, also signifies sacrificial service. Earth, as a symbol of permanence, is assaulted by the Moon, which shifts from romantic partner to inevitable threat.
The southern gate engages themes of stability and introspection. The Moon governs tides and cyclical time, evoking metaphysical continuity and its potential rupture. Its orbital displacement renders it a symbol of existential fragility, echoing the final images of Lars von Trier’s Melancholia. The bull, associated with Saint Luke and Buddhist ideals of humility and labour, also signifies sacrificial service. Earth, as a symbol of permanence, is assaulted by the Moon, which shifts from romantic partner to inevitable threat.
Eastern Window: Rain, Water, Angel/Man
The eastern gate introduces water as a medium of emotional renewal and apocalyptic transformation. The motif of the Flood, drawn from biblical and Buddhist traditions, represents destruction as a precondition for rebirth. Water here signifies compassion, memory and purification, linked to Vajrasattva-Akshobhya of the blue Eastern Realm of Perfect Joy and Saint Matthew’s mediating role between human and divine. The angelic figure, revealed through lightning, bridges these realms. This triptych resonates with Colouristic Exercises and Radiance, where blue becomes a symbol of religious experience and transcendence.
The eastern gate introduces water as a medium of emotional renewal and apocalyptic transformation. The motif of the Flood, drawn from biblical and Buddhist traditions, represents destruction as a precondition for rebirth. Water here signifies compassion, memory and purification, linked to Vajrasattva-Akshobhya of the blue Eastern Realm of Perfect Joy and Saint Matthew’s mediating role between human and divine. The angelic figure, revealed through lightning, bridges these realms. This triptych resonates with Colouristic Exercises and Radiance, where blue becomes a symbol of religious experience and transcendence.
Northern Window: UFO, Air, Eagle
The northern gate opens to the transcendent and revelatory. The UFO replaces traditional spiritual chariots, offering an image of cosmic intervention and a shift from mythic to postmodern symbolism. The eagle, emblem of Saint John and Buddhist celestial archetypes, represents elevated vision and divine insight—expressed through rays and the portholes of a spacecraft gazing through the window. Air, the governing element of the north, is linked to green and denotes active seeking and transformation. This quadrant is the most optimistic, suggesting the possibility of expanded knowledge and experience.
The northern gate opens to the transcendent and revelatory. The UFO replaces traditional spiritual chariots, offering an image of cosmic intervention and a shift from mythic to postmodern symbolism. The eagle, emblem of Saint John and Buddhist celestial archetypes, represents elevated vision and divine insight—expressed through rays and the portholes of a spacecraft gazing through the window. Air, the governing element of the north, is linked to green and denotes active seeking and transformation. This quadrant is the most optimistic, suggesting the possibility of expanded knowledge and experience.
