Collaboration with Nadiya Petrovska
Concrete, glass, plastic, acrylic, liquid.
Size: 12 x 13 x15 cm
Thanks to the heroic efforts of partisans, special ops fighters, and, who would have guessed, Russian invaders, it was quite common to drive past the burned-out car of a local collaborator in occupied Kherson. Under the occupation regime, no one even bothered to clear the debris from the streets. Betrayal is difficult to forgive; it is despised even by those who encouraged it, because you can't trust someone who has betrayed once. Unfortunately, we often don't even notice how we betray ourselves.
Emotional burnout awaits everyone who drives false road—who allows other people to control their lives, emotions, decisions, and goals. It often happens that, if not society, then long-buried ancestors and parents direct us. Everyone has their own route. Along it, behind every true goal we pursue, there is a gas station where we refuel and drive on. False goals leave the tank empty.
Series concept
The gift that no one would want to receive.
No one in their right mind would ever want this gift. Yet, fate and our nervous systems grant it to us, leaving us with no other choice. War is a profound trauma. While the conflict will eventually end, the triggers—certain objects, sounds, and places—will repeatedly pull us back into the raw feelings and states we once experienced. These memories settle at the bottom of our psyche like a heavy block of concrete, lying dormant as long as they are connected to intense negative emotions. We cannot move forward until we have reconsidered these events and understood how they have reshaped our personalities and values for the better. Only then can these memories be transformed into the foundational blocks of the person we are yet to become. Triggers cannot be escaped; they must be confronted and discharged so they are not inherited by our children.