Eva Kali
Alena "Cotopaxi" Kalistratova
1974-2020
1974-2020
30.12.2008
Intro
All the clouds and rains begin here in this room,
from this swirling Alyonka's smoke.
from this swirling Alyonka's smoke.
If she hadn't smoked so much ... however, who knows what would've happened, if she hadn't smoked so much. Perhaps it would have been nothing and everything would have gone on, or maybe it would have changed completely everything. Still, so much time is spent on this questionable activity...
But the fact is, nevertheless, that Alyona smokes extremely too much. She smokes like a steam train. Or like a pipe of an old boiler. The morning of Alyona happens at lunchtime. Bathrobe, slippers and shower. Kettle is boiling, browned toast bouncing. Bright, shining sun.
Having drunk tea, Alena sits down to draw. And, of course, takes out the cigarettes. She draws with her lips pressed, silently and extraordinarily serious, smoking and plunging deeper and deeper into the blue, stupefying tobacco smoke. I look at it, I look at the gathering heavy, puffy clouds above the Andes behind a wide window, I remember that old boiler and suddenly realize that all the clouds and rains begin here in this room, from this now swirling Alyonka's smoke, and they spill in the city usually only in the afternoon, because she is up only at this hour.
But the fact is, nevertheless, that Alyona smokes extremely too much. She smokes like a steam train. Or like a pipe of an old boiler. The morning of Alyona happens at lunchtime. Bathrobe, slippers and shower. Kettle is boiling, browned toast bouncing. Bright, shining sun.
Having drunk tea, Alena sits down to draw. And, of course, takes out the cigarettes. She draws with her lips pressed, silently and extraordinarily serious, smoking and plunging deeper and deeper into the blue, stupefying tobacco smoke. I look at it, I look at the gathering heavy, puffy clouds above the Andes behind a wide window, I remember that old boiler and suddenly realize that all the clouds and rains begin here in this room, from this now swirling Alyonka's smoke, and they spill in the city usually only in the afternoon, because she is up only at this hour.
Oleg Andreyev
photographer
Breathe deeply
Panoramas of the Ecuadorian Sierra
30.12.2008
San Cristobal
It seems that I can't do it without Galapagos anymore
When I look at a grey bird that looks like a giant gull, which curiously climbs up to my very feet, when my fingers are chewed and licked by a sea lion cub, when I swim with a huge flock of sparkling fish, when I see a sea iguana devouring an algae under the water, when I sit on the nose of a boat, which is carried on the waves and the sea splashes in my face, then. Then I feel like a child.
A child who has never known grief, who can enjoy every ray of the sun, every shell found on the seashore.
It seems that I can't do it without Galapagos anymore.
A child who has never known grief, who can enjoy every ray of the sun, every shell found on the seashore.
It seems that I can't do it without Galapagos anymore.
Alena Kalistratova
diary
Inca's paths
Улицы Латинской Америки
08.02.2006
Spline
And it seems to me that there is no Ecuador in the world,
but this house and cold, frozen Moscow.
but this house and cold, frozen Moscow.
All day long with short breaks I lie my nose in the back of the sofa. I feel blue. Reading Metro 2033.
Its Marevno and I'm dizzy.
And it seems to me that there is no Ecuador in the world, but this house and cold, frozen Moscow. And everything else I dreamed it or imagined.
I want to lie down almost without moving, occasionally getting up for cigarettes, until Sunday. Until I finally have to go to Sheremetyevo.
Its Marevno and I'm dizzy.
And it seems to me that there is no Ecuador in the world, but this house and cold, frozen Moscow. And everything else I dreamed it or imagined.
I want to lie down almost without moving, occasionally getting up for cigarettes, until Sunday. Until I finally have to go to Sheremetyevo.
Alena Kalistratova
diary
Household mythology
Metamorphoses of Alkonost
13.08.2012
About fooling around
Hellishly, I want to become some kind of biologist or botanist
Hellishly, I want to become some kind of biologist or botanist.
Describe, well... let's say, the process of development of the creeping shrubbery.
Or to observe seasonal changes in the food behavior of the underbush outer-crawler.
Write with a real writing cool-tool in a big book with a leather cover, make sketches or photos. Behind a huge carved ancient table. And behind my back cabinets with a bunch of ancient books and encyclopedias.
Describe, well... let's say, the process of development of the creeping shrubbery.
Or to observe seasonal changes in the food behavior of the underbush outer-crawler.
Write with a real writing cool-tool in a big book with a leather cover, make sketches or photos. Behind a huge carved ancient table. And behind my back cabinets with a bunch of ancient books and encyclopedias.
Alena Kalistratova
diary
Subculpture
Herman and his neighbors
27.12.2008
Puerto Ayora
A place where the emotions of thousands of people for years, hundreds of years
are preserved and live by themselves
are preserved and live by themselves
Even not religious people, but especially sensitive ones, feel the presence of something in old temples. Something is quite different there. And you are breathing different wat. And the light. And... I don't know, it's hard for me to say in words about it. It is exactly what is called a "holy/sacred place".
A place where the emotions of thousands of people for years, hundreds of years are preserved and live by themselves.
A place where the emotions of thousands of people for years, hundreds of years are preserved and live by themselves.
Alena Kalistratova
diary
New half-images
Neural network suggestivism
13.08.2012
Psychedelic
I dreamt that I have an elephant. He was cute and unhappy.
Dreams of a sick person are extremely bright and intricate.
I dreamt that I have an elephant. It is the size of half a pillow, but it is as heavy as two big weights. Such a quilted weight.
And he had flowers on his back.
And he was alive.
And he could not climb the stairs. He stood, stomped and pitifully looked up.
I had to go down, press him to my chest and carry him up the stairs to the apartment.
He was cute and unhappy.
I dreamt that I have an elephant. It is the size of half a pillow, but it is as heavy as two big weights. Such a quilted weight.
And he had flowers on his back.
And he was alive.
And he could not climb the stairs. He stood, stomped and pitifully looked up.
I had to go down, press him to my chest and carry him up the stairs to the apartment.
He was cute and unhappy.
Alena Kalistratova
diary
26.12.2008
Three thousand years
You look like a star. Like a bright, bright star.
You don't go away, okay? Stay at least a little bit more.
You don't go away, okay? Stay at least a little bit more.
Do not cry, says Sandro to me and kisses my eyes to dry my tears. Do not cry. Everything will be fine. Smile. Make sure you smile at the world and it will do everything for you.
You're a witch, he says. I know, I can see. You're a sorceress. And you'll always have what you want.
And you also look like a star, he says. Like a bright, bright star. You don't go away, okay? Stay, he says and kisses my fingers. Stay at least a little bit more.
- Are we going to Isabella for New Year's? There's a lagoon, you know. It's a big lagoon. And at sunset there are pink flamingos. And it's so beautiful. They have feathers burning with fire in the light of sunset. Shall we go?
- We'll go, of course we'll go.
You're a witch, he says. I know, I can see. You're a sorceress. And you'll always have what you want.
And you also look like a star, he says. Like a bright, bright star. You don't go away, okay? Stay, he says and kisses my fingers. Stay at least a little bit more.
- Are we going to Isabella for New Year's? There's a lagoon, you know. It's a big lagoon. And at sunset there are pink flamingos. And it's so beautiful. They have feathers burning with fire in the light of sunset. Shall we go?
- We'll go, of course we'll go.
Alena Kalistratova
diary
Mask.
last creation
last creation
14.04.2020
Coda
She drew, sculpted, photographed, and rode on a bike.
I always thought that she would be killed by that bike or volcano explosion.
I always thought that she would be killed by that bike or volcano explosion.
Alena was cool.
We met through the Live Journal at the very beginning of the two thousandths. She lived in a distant country and one day found herself in Moscow. And somehow, suddenly, at our home. That's right — easy and simple.
— And come and visit us, - she said. — Right in a month.
And to resist her enthusiasm and energy was simply impossible. Then we scraped up money for a ticket and flew.
Thanks to her invitation, we had our first long flight. The first tropical islands. Taste of lime, mango. The first smell of the jungle. The first huge waterfall. And the first erupting volcano.
She was the first to show us the DSLR camera and tell us about the travel photo.
— Have you tried fried ice cream? And let's go shoot! Have you been to the Indian market? Have you fished trout at the equator? How is it possible – You have not been to hot mineral springs?! Let's go!
Her enthusiasm was more pushing than the steam train.
— You do not have a website? I will draw it for you.
And she really drew it. My site still has her design. Yes, it's long out of date. But I never changed anything in fifteen years. I like it.
We haven't talked a lot lately. But I always knew that it was somewhere on the other side of the world. Either in Argentina, or in the Galapagos, or somewhere near Tungurahua or in the jungles of the Amazon.
She drew, sculpted, photographed, and rode on a bike.
I always thought that she would be killed by that bike or volcano explosion. I even told her so.
But it turned out to be a coronavirus. The one that is like the flu. That doesn't exist. And which is only for old people.
Bye, Cotopaxi.
We met through the Live Journal at the very beginning of the two thousandths. She lived in a distant country and one day found herself in Moscow. And somehow, suddenly, at our home. That's right — easy and simple.
— And come and visit us, - she said. — Right in a month.
And to resist her enthusiasm and energy was simply impossible. Then we scraped up money for a ticket and flew.
Thanks to her invitation, we had our first long flight. The first tropical islands. Taste of lime, mango. The first smell of the jungle. The first huge waterfall. And the first erupting volcano.
She was the first to show us the DSLR camera and tell us about the travel photo.
— Have you tried fried ice cream? And let's go shoot! Have you been to the Indian market? Have you fished trout at the equator? How is it possible – You have not been to hot mineral springs?! Let's go!
Her enthusiasm was more pushing than the steam train.
— You do not have a website? I will draw it for you.
And she really drew it. My site still has her design. Yes, it's long out of date. But I never changed anything in fifteen years. I like it.
We haven't talked a lot lately. But I always knew that it was somewhere on the other side of the world. Either in Argentina, or in the Galapagos, or somewhere near Tungurahua or in the jungles of the Amazon.
She drew, sculpted, photographed, and rode on a bike.
I always thought that she would be killed by that bike or volcano explosion. I even told her so.
But it turned out to be a coronavirus. The one that is like the flu. That doesn't exist. And which is only for old people.
Bye, Cotopaxi.
Alexey Pekhov
writer
In memory of a photographer, artist, sculptor and sometimes a raccoon.