Portrait nominee

The Log Lady is a visual interpretation of a single archetypal heroine inspired by the universe of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.
Rather than recreating a character, this image explores a symbolic figure - a woman as a vessel of memory, intuition, and silent knowledge.

The work was built not on direct quotation, but on atmosphere: ritual, stillness, inner tension, and the feeling of a dreamlike state where reality and symbolism merge. The heroine is not a narrative character - she is a presence. A mediator between worlds. A quiet witness.

The log becomes an object of gravity and meaning - not a prop, but a symbol of continuity, memory, and hidden connection to unseen layers of reality. The glowing blue “screen” functions as a visual portal - a boundary between inner and outer space, consciousness and the unknown.

Ksenia Shupenya is a visual artist and photographer based in Tallinn, Estonia. Her practice began in street photography and has evolved into conceptual and hybrid lens-based work exploring identity, transformation, and image construction.

She completed the School of Creative Photography program in 2021 and has since participated in numerous international competitions and open calls, including Sony World Photography Awards, One Eyeland, Life Framer, Luxembourg Art Prize, and Picter platform programs. In 2023, she attended a masterclass led by Georgy Pinkhassov, and her work was featured in the stage design of the theatre production "The Emperor’s Madness" (Südalinna Theatre).

Her work has been exhibited at SUPERRAUM Gallery in Dortmund (2024) and at an international black-and-white street photography exhibition in Milan (2025). In 2025, she won first prize in the portrait category at the Biennial of Author Photography in Narva.

Her works have been published on Photo Vogue, Photographize, Aesthetica Magazine, and the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. She is currently developing conceptual portrait and hybrid image-based projects at the intersection of photography and moving image.