Reflective Encounters

“When a family unit turns from a trio into a duo, both parties' worlds come unstuck. Told through largely monochrome, continuous line drawings, Velikovskaya takes simplified lines on a journey that elegantly portray the invisible parental dread of letting go of their children as they learn to grow. Velikovskaya is no stranger to novel approaches to filmmaking - her previous films Kukuschka (2016) and My Strange Grandfather (2011) both created unique characters with unusual designs and mixed media approaches to their construction. By incorporating a 3D pen into the animation process, Velikovskaya has brought the classic line drawing of 2D animation into the third dimension, using intricately heated plastic strands that are extruded, smeared, stretched, curled and pulled into a film about family ties.

The uneven and irregular weight of the line created by the use of heated plastic brings to mind the ink drawings of Ronald Searle and the whimsy of Saul Steinberg. The medium and technique are used playfully to create a perfect allegory of the unravelling of a close-knit family as the child leaves home for ventures new. By combining multiple flat 2D replacements within a 3D environment, the filmmaker creates a world full of love and highly effective visual metaphors.”

— Laura-Beth Cowley