"Silent Watch" 64x70cm. 2025

paper, gouache, pastel, charcoal, pencils, gold leaf

This painting is about presence. Not rescue, not intervention — but simply being there when someone else is in pain. In the foreground lies a wounded soldier inside a medical unit. Beside him sits a young woman with the callsign Runa, a senior sergeant. Her posture is calm and steady — she holds the space around them, preventing it from falling apart.

The golden leaf is a quiet, nearly invisible energy. It symbolizes the kind of presence that can’t always be explained, but which can keep someone alive on the edge. This work is about the silent strength of a woman at the heart of the frontline — about how deeply it matters to just be there.