Natasha Lelenco, You Are The One, 2025, Resin

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This figurative portrait painting belongs to You Are The One, an ongoing series by Moldovan-born contemporary artist Natasha Lelenco examining … Read more This figurative portrait painting belongs to You Are The One, an ongoing series by Moldovan-born contemporary artist Natasha Lelenco examining identity, emotional performance and self-representation in the age of digital repetition. Executed with acrylic, spray paint and Posca markers on canvas, the work translates the visual language of emojis and social media expressions into a hand-painted image marked by psychological tension and quiet irony. The composition presents a hybrid figure suspended between human portrait and digital avatar. A rigid, exaggerated grin—reminiscent of a grimacing emoji—suggests a “manual smile”: an expression consciously activated rather than genuinely felt. What appears cute at first glance gradually reveals a sense of discomfort, exposing the emotional fatigue that often underlies performative happiness in hyperconnected environments. The figure’s simplified facial structure and rectangular eye motif evoke pixelated filters and interface logic, reinforcing the work’s dialogue with contemporary screen culture. The integrated red resin frame, with its rounded corners, plays a crucial role in the piece. It recalls both a digital window and a toy-like casing, blurring distinctions between image, object and interface. This framing strategy intensifies the contrast between the smoothness associated with digital imagery and the tactile presence of painting, where brushstrokes, texture and chromatic density remain visible. Throughout You Are The One, Lelenco uses humor as a critical device. Sweetness functions as camouflage, allowing complex reflections on emotional exhaustion, visibility and simulated individuality to emerge beneath an apparently playful surface. This work stands as both a portrait and a mirror, inviting viewers to recognize their own relationship with mediated emotions and algorithmic selfhood. Medium: Acrylic, spray paint and Posca markers on canvas Frame: Integrated red resin frame with rounded corners Dimensions: 40 × 30 cm (canvas) / 46 × 36 cm (framed) Series: You Are The One Installation: Ready to hang This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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