8th Thou shalt not steal

Type of work: Conscious Abstraction

Project: “Covenant”

Technique of Realization – Light Painting

Year: 2025

Limited Collector’s Photography, archival pigment print on photographic paper of the highest quality, meeting museum longevity standards.
Hand-applied numbering and author’s signature. A dedicated Certificate of Authenticity is attached to the work. It is available in a pool of up to a single copy of 1200 x 800mm and 2 copies 600 x 400mm and has the status of a work of art. +1 AP (an exhibition copy used for competitions and shows, which cannot be sold)

The abstract photograph created using the light-painting technique interprets the commandment “You shall not steal” as a universal prohibition against appropriating that which does not belong to us—not only in a material sense but also symbolically, emotionally, and culturally. In the contemporary context, the notion of “theft” expands to encompass the appropriation of attention, identity, creative labor, voice, and rights to presence within the social sphere.

The artistic structure of the image is based on the juxtaposition of intensely delineated traces of light with dark, empty spaces—symbolizing erased, impoverished, and inaccessible areas. The composition reveals a dynamic tension between presence and absence, between possession and loss, visually conveying the act of deprivation.

In its contemporary context, the work also addresses themes of cultural appropriation, systemic exploitation, unethical market practices, and the unreflective extraction of others’ work without acknowledging authorship. Thus, the abstract form not only illustrates the prohibition but also provokes the question: Do we truly understand what “you shall not steal” means today?

Through the language of light, “You shall not steal” becomes a call for respect toward boundaries—both visible and invisible—and for the recognition of another person’s right to possess, to exist, and to create.