In today’s fractured world, where wars and conflicts devastate not only physical landscapes but also the inner realms, reassembling oneself becomes almost an impossible task. Sergey Karev’s Creating the Monster delves into these shattered realities through "monsters" — strange, unsettling forms that embody fear, anguish, and unhealed trauma. These figures are not merely personal expressions of pain, they reflect the collective scars of humanity, laying bare the aftermath of violence and destruction that we all must confront.

Karev’s use of metal — a material both unyielding and cold — speaks to the hardness and irrevocability of these impacts. Each sculpture, crafted through the precise techniques of welding and forging, symbolizes an attempt to rebuild life from fragmented parts. These works, rigid yet fragile, serve as embodiments of transformation, arising from crude, broken forms into new, hybrid entities. In Karev’s vision, trauma does not vanish but becomes the foundation for painful yet transformative renewal.

At the heart of Karev’s sculptures lies a hybrid beauty — one born from ancient wounds that continue to shape the world. This hybrid beauty is both alluring and disturbing, symbolizing resilience and the enduring quest for self-discovery. It is within this tension between darkness and rebirth that the true power of Karev’s work resides, revealing how new beginnings can emerge, inevitably, from old scars, much like art itself — in its pursuit of truth and understanding.

The exhibition Creating the Monster presents over ten sculptures by Sergey Karev, including new works being shown for the first time.