Darceyism by Alina Khozhan
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 60 x 60 cm
Year: 2025
Price: $1500.00 USD
Status: available
In this round painting, I depict Darcey - my muse, my dog, my little world. When I painted her, I imagined Darcey not just as a pet, but as a celestial being soaring among the clouds, like the goddess Aphrodite, wrapped in a light silk veil. In this weightlessness, she reigns - free, proud, and magnificent. In this image of heavenly Darcey, I wanted to convey that fine line of love between a human and their animal, where devotion transforms into reverence. Every time I stroke her, it feels like a small ritual of gratitude. “Darceyism” is not merely a portrait of a dog - it is a philosophy of revering living beings, a symbol of respect for the feelings and souls of those around us. I believe that everyone who has a beloved pet has felt the same at least once - as if beside them is not just an animal, but a deity to be served with love.
Why collect this work?
A circular format turns an affectionate dog portrait into a mock apotheosis, balancing devotional grandeur with the bodily awkwardness of a pet held upright.
- Khozhan describes Darcey as her dog and muse, and frames the painting as reverence for animal life. The work tests that intention through affectionate parody rather than solemn idealisation.
- In the photograph, Darcey faces forward above a pale, humanlike lower body, while dark blue fabric loops around both forms. Clouds erase ordinary ground, and the circular boundary compresses the airborne figure into an emblem.
- The catalogued oil-on-canvas medium supports shifts between soft cloud passages, sharply defined eyes, and densely folded drapery. These contrasts make the hybrid anatomy legible while preserving its pictorial fiction.
- Made in 2025 and measuring 60 by 60 centimetres, Darceyism can be encountered as a contemporary revision of divine portraiture, using species substitution to question where devotion ends and personification begins.
About the Artist
Alina Khozhan
Alina Khozhan is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: painting. Based in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Nationality: Kazakh
I explores social issues and the emotional depth of human experience through my artworks.
