With the rise of abstract art in the twentieth century, however, she believes that the body has tended to lose its central position, so that classical nudes are made to appear cold and austere.

To the Greeks and Romans, by contrast, they expressed the human passions in all their variety: tension, the struggle for power, anger, frustration, despair and weariness of life.

Myshkin’s exhibition of charcoal and pencil drawings portraying the naked body and the human soul is her way of demonstrating that the human form can still express these passions.

Quoting Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, Myskin’s exhibition asks:

“Where is the soul?

The soul is what you see

for looking long

at the bodies, more expressive because they are naked

The bodies are repeated

like poetry

in order to be remembered

they are repeated

over and over again

committed to memory

like a poem,

like a series

of Roman numerals,

like a requiem

of the human soul…”

“Corpus et Anima: The naked body and the human soul”, by Tanya Myshkin at ANCA Gallery, 1 Rosevear Place, Dickson, 12-5pm Wednesday-Sunday until June 17.