Collaboration with Nadiya Petrovska
Concrete, glass, plastic, acrylic, liquid.
Size: 12 x 13 x15 cm
Its full name is the "Czech hedgehog." For the first time, these anti-tank obstacles appeared exactly where you might think, dear reader: in Czechoslovakia, where they were mass-produced during the Second World War. They gained their greatest popularity in the Soviet Union. So when the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, a large number of hedgehogs were simply pulled from local historical museums. Their use is most effective in cities, where a single one can block an entire street.
Emotional triggers do exactly the same thing. Each of us naturally strives for freedom, for exploration, knowledge, creativity, and unconditional love. But as we move along the roads of life, we notice that some directions are blocked. When the war is over, or even sooner, we will be able to look back at the past and re-evaluate all the tragic events that happened to us. We will understand that each traumatic experience taught us something important and valuable. Then we will be ready to thank it and let it go—that will be the moment of healing. Moreover, we will be able to do this with all our "hedgehogs" and blocks of concrete, even if they have been lying there for the last 50 years.
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.