Recent political and economic changes in the former Soviet Union have had an immeasurable impact on the minds, hearts and spirits of the Russian people. Their understanding of who they were and they are has been shaken dramatically, leaving their sense of identity--both national and individual--in a state of confusion and flux.

In a continuing series of paintings and suites of prints entitled Russ Flux, Peter Liashkov, an emigre artist of Russian heritage, addresses the current chaos of the Russian soul. His work employs a rich vocabulary of symbols and icons drawn from common domestic items such as Soviet banners, folk embroidery patterns, gloves and potatoes, as well as from timeless icons such as the sower, the bear and the Christ. Combined and recontextualized in Liashkov's work, these images express a wide range of ideas and emotions including irony, poignancy, hope and despair.

Liashkov assembles his visuals through reprographic and computer manipulations that he converts to silk screens. The paintings are made by placing between two and ten screens on thin wood panels prepared with a smooth application of acrylic color. Effects achieved through layering, overlapping and blurring are determined by the artist in the moment of creation. Some paintings also include handwork between the screens. Upon completion, the paintings are placed in wide, flat frames, some of which have imagery from the paintings printed on them.

Departing from the traditional strategy of making numbered editions of identical prints, Liashkov prefers to create organic progressions of closely related monotypes that follow thematic sequences. His prints evolve out of work that included phototransfer collage material which has been overprinted with etching, photogravure and woodcut plates. The current series, Russ Flux and Highwire, feature the additional complex application of multiple screens.

Together, Liashkov's paintings and prints distill an historic moment of cultural transformation as it is seen, felt, contemplated and interpreted by an artist of unique perspective: that of an insider looking out, and of an outsider searching within.