Shimmering connection

The exhibition brings together Ukrainian artists of two periods — the late 1980s / early 1990s and the last decade. Both times painting developed in moments of historical rupture: then the collapse of the Soviet empire and the birth of independent Ukraine, now external aggression, loss and the full-scale war. The curators look for the sudden flashes between these generations — the speed and energy of the painterly gesture, figurativeness, heightened emotional sensitivity, painting understood as a process rather than a finished result. These connections are unstable and fleeting: shimmering connections.

I showed four works in the exhibition.

In the embrace of death — 2026, oil on canvas, 120×100 cm. In wartime, death ceases to be a distant abstraction or a final event. It becomes a constant companion in everyday life, an invisible presence with which one must coexist. «Embrace» is an image of forced intimacy with what war has made part of everyday life. Death is no longer «somewhere nearby» — it enters the intimate sphere, becomes physically palpable, accompanying a person even in moments of silence.

Imago — 2026, oil on canvas, 50×44 cm. The creature is in a state of transformation. Its body combines organic and man-made elements: fabric, lace and pearls. These materials evoke the home and a sense of care, yet at the same time they seem fragile and incapable of protecting against violence.

Refugees — 2026, oil on canvas, 170×115 cm. Refugeehood is a change in geography and a state in which a person can no longer leave their own experiences behind. War forces one to move forward, but memory, fear, hope and inner trauma continue the journey alongside the body. The characters are connected to one another but do not form a community. Each carries their own experience of loss, while remaining part of a shared history of forced displacement. The space of the painting lacks stability: it resembles a psychological landscape rather than a specific place.

I dance with someone who is far away — 2025, oil on canvas, 100×160 cm. At the heart of the piece is a dance with absence. The woman continues to move as if her partner were still by her side. Her body remembers their shared rhythm, touch and closeness, even when the other person is no longer within reach.

Photos: Tsykota. Online tour of the exhibition: my.matterport.com/show/?m=os7R8679qyB