To protect and to survive: Painting inspired by living in the Post-Soviet country that suffers from current invasions

Hello Steemians !!

As promised i'm continuing to show my series of works that i completed while working on my A level project of demolished dreams, that people try to pursue in the face of oppression. It's about a journey that my country went through during it's Soviet years. This particular piece was equally inspired by the invasions of Russians recently in 2008, in Georgia, that caused the loss of more territories of my country.
Art has long played a role in the sphere of politics with artworks that engage with ideas, institutions and conflicts surrounding the governance of society as evidenced by artifacts such as the Code of Hammurabi from Babylon or monuments such as Trajan's column from imperial Rome. Political messages, whether subtle or overt, can resonate in officially commissioned works. Artists have long been associated with radical political activities; during the 20th century, the Mexican Mural School was associated with the country's 1910 revolution and continued its legacy through images of working class liberation. Artists since have created a multitude of antiwar and socially engaged artworks. Politically engaged art is one of the most prominent types of work being created today.

As per usual, I started by taking photos of my friends and then evolving ideas around it.

Then I try to switch compositions around the figures and sketch out the one that I find most versatile. I sketch out with acrylics on already primed canvas and start putting tones in. As we don't have much time during A levels, we usually like things done quick. By the second year, I already got used to this hectic rhythm.

I use Acrylic as a medium of my creative process because it lets me maneuver with the composition as much as I like. i tend to switch up compositions at every gaze and feel like this is the only material that can keep up with me.

In this series, I'm including small Russian graffito's in all of my paintings as a symbol of their propaganda culture, using posters to diffuse the Soviet influence. Later on, as you will see, I change the size of the writing, which makes an overall composition more prosperous.

I equally added the details of more realistic objects, such as the gun, to increase the dramatism of the scene.

When I finally looked at the painting, decided the composition had too much figures and was too complex with not the right messages. I changed it completly and after three days of work this is what came out:

Hope you like it and as usual leave your feedback and any questions in the comments below.
Thanks for reading,

Maria