No to War! Peace & Love! Favorite 

These two works on canvas were made with my own blood, using the severed distal phalanx of my index finger as the painting instrument. They are connected to my solo anti-war action in Copenhagen in September 2026.

Their central messages are “No to War!” and “Peace & Love!” The index finger—the finger used to pull a trigger—became the central symbol of my refusal to participate in aggression and the killing of other people.

These works also arise from my personal circumstances: the risk of torture and coercion into participation in war if I am returned to Russia. My position is a refusal to take part in aggression and killing. My protest is directed against war, against stripping people of their will and dignity, and against turning a human being into an instrument of violence.

In the Russian original, the first inscription uses a forceful, profane rejection of war. “No to War!” conveys its intended meaning rather than its literal wording. The intensity of the original expression forms a separate linguistic layer of the work. The second inscription, rendered as “Peace & Love!”, expresses its affirmative message.
For me, religion means faith in love. This is the meaning I give to the words “Peace & Love!”

Anton Chernykh is a Russian citizen and asylum seeker living in Denmark.