TIHONCIUC Ruslan, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
The form of the work does not necessarily reproduce a key. The artist eliminates the functional and preserves the essence: the idea of access, opening, passage. The key does not open a specific door, but a state. The two semicircular segments suggest an incomplete circle – something that has been broken or has not yet closed.
Access is not guaranteed; it involves searching, matching, maturing. The central column connects the earth to the upper part, like an axis of meaning. The key is not horizontal, but vertical – the opening is not outward, but upward/inward.
The surface of the work is rough, deeply cut, bearing the traces of manual work, suggesting that the Key is not new, not polished – it is used, charged with time, like a transmitted object. Placed on the grass, between the trees, the sculpture seems an archaic sign, a symbol of boundary or initiation, which does not belong to the contemporary city, but to an ancient world.
Key is a sculpture about conditional access, about thresholds that open only to those who understand form, patience and direction.
Explore the locations in Ungheni where sculptures representing the cultural heritage of the Middle Prut Valley are located. Click on the pins to discover the works of art.