On the couch, 2010
The work ”On the couch” shows a stuffed fallow deer lying on a red vintage sofa, its buttocks facing up. Yudkovik emptied the deer’s belly and filled it with seed-like objects done in mixed technique: an almost surgical procedure of opening the stuffed animal’s abdomen, inserting the objects, and then sewing it up.
Are the title of the work and the presence of the deer on the couch evidence of being in a clinic during a psychotherapy session? The therapeutic, psychoanalytic situation, characterized by the position of the patient (the deer) on the couch, with the therapist beyond its field of vision, contributes to the enhancement of this possibility.
Does the open/full belly allude to an examination of issues from this mammal's life and inner world?
The work was first shown as part of the group exhibition “Abdominal Pain,” works from the ST- ART Collection, Serge Tirosh, about notions of strength and compassion.