by Toussaint Egan

One of the reasons my Re:Frame compatriots and I came together in the first place to create this newsletter was to spotlight inspiring new animation and talented up-and-coming creators we otherwise would not have the opportunity to cover anywhere else. The subject of today’s newsletter fits perfectly within that description.

Sasha Glico is a 20-year-old Russian artist and animator who has been publishing bizarre and hyper-realistic illustrations on their Twitter profile since late 2021. Not much else is known about her, but what is wholly apparent to anyone who has seen her work is that she is tremendously talented. Outside of her digital illustrations, Glico has also been creating short animation as early as 2023, with each new short shared via her various channels more surreal, disquieting, and impressive than the last.

On December 8, Glico uploaded a trio of 30-second animations onto their YouTube page. Accompanied with musical snippets from artists like coil, Bernard Herrmann, and Queen, and titled simply “2d animation vol. 1” through 3, Glico’s work is indescribable in the best sense of the word. Rendered in graphite-like color and texture, her animations feel like CCTV footage from some dystopian post-human future where the line between flesh and synapse illegibly blurs with chrome and copper.

While it may appear from the outside looking in that Glico’s art and animation has somehow immaculately emerged from out of the ether, it’s more accurate to chalk up her to a simple combination of prodigious young talent, eclectic inspiration, and a stubborn dedication to execute on a vision that singular in its aesthetic aspiration.

Her work is so impressive that, as an unfortunate by-product of our currently A.I.-addled reality, she’s received accusations that her animations are in fact elaborate A.I. generated fabrications. In response, Glico shared a behind-the-scenes frame-by-frame video of her latest animation over on her TikTok account.

Now, I can’t understand Russian, but I think it’s fairly clear from her facial expressions and tone that she is none too pleased with her hard work being accused of being an A.I. impersonation of other animators’ hard work and artistry. No matter how you personally respond to Glico’s work, what you can't say is that it isn't one hundred percent of her own vivid and unique imagination.

Of all the animations that Glico has shared up to this point, my favorite is “2d animation vol.2,” featuring a shirtless man with long hair standing atop a speeding train, only to collide face-first with a low hanging concrete overpass.

From the man’s leering Aphex Twin-like expression and the throbbing musculature of his bare back to the gnarly point of impact, not to mention the beautiful close-up shots and imaginative shifts in perspective, the short is a remarkable display of technical aptitude, anatomical mastery, and immediate storytelling. I’m so excited to follow the growth of Sasha Glico’s art and animation into the next year and beyond. She's a bonafide prodigy if I ever saw one.