Princess Nesmeyana (The Unsmiling Princess)

"If you laugh too much, you will cry later." A heavy, manipulative childhood rule transformed into a sharp pop-surrealism manifesto. At the center of the narrative is Princess Nesmeyana, an iconic character from Slavic folklore, completely reimagined within the gritty, dark atmosphere of 90s post-Soviet backyards. She is trapped in an endless loop of an "emotional rollercoaster," chained to heavy metal swings. Her face is frozen in a grotesque Joker-like makeup—a symbol of forced happiness, underneath which her true, raw emotions break through. Instead of a normal hopscotch game, the concrete below is chalked with rigid childhood prohibitions: "DON'T LAUGH," "BE QUIET," "YOU'RE GOING TO CRY." On both sides, standing like ancient pagan idols painted in blood-red, are caricatured backyard babushkas—the eternal guardians of public shame and judgment

Artist

• tz1VuuKE8S7ViAtYUYEUtbFuch6fac3iXriq

Collection

Folk stories

Chain

Tezos

Held in

Jt3ss

Editions held

2

View where it was minted ↗