As I was growing up in the Soviet Union, I took it as a normality that women of all ages used to do the the heavy road work, mostly repairing the tam-tracks. The main feature that made them to stand out was the orange vests they used to wear. I guess the Soviet women were much ahead of their Western counterparts in terms of getting their equality. The only thing was, that when the hard working Soviet women were coming at home, they had to cook, clean and look after their children, while their men sat in front of TV, drank vodka and swore. At that time I painted this painting as a tribute to durability and stamina of our Soviet women. The Red Sledgehammer was exhibited in Kharkiv Fine Arts museum in 1986.