This is the story of a closed city in the Urals. Of early coming-of-age. And of the purest, most luminous motive for being.

A desire to be more than just a woman (or girl) in the context of the place where she was born — and where she was supposed to die.

We come into this world with only one true story — our own. An artist can create vast worlds out of nothing, but no matter how hard they try, no matter how much they create, they cannot hide their true self on the canvas. The deepest and most meaningful works of art in human history are infused with the creator’s personal story. In the end, that is the only thing that allows one painting to stand apart from another. Without it, art is meaningless. A stained piece of cloth differs from a world masterpiece only in that it was painted by a person — someone who painted it with their story, their pain or their joy. It is this honesty and directness that turns great art into a living, breathing organism that grows and evolves with every passing second.

An artist can only be interesting in their honesty.