I am happy to announce I will be part of a great group show at Abrams Claghorn Gallery in September! The show’s title “Call Me What You Want” reflects the idea that all the categories and classifications out there are really arbitrary constructs. The show focuses on works which strip away the unnecessary and reveal the core of what we all share.
My pieces, Heavenly 100 and One With the Source, will be shown.
I hope to see you at the opening on Saturday, September 16th, 5-7pm!
Show Dates: September 3 – 30, 2017
1251 Solano Ave. Albany CA 94706 – (510) 526 9558
http://abramsclaghorn.com/call-me-what-you-want
Here is a bit more about each of the works:
Heavenly 100
I was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine. I emigrated to the United States to escape the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Although I have been living in the United States for over 20 years, I still feel a strong connection to the city of my birth. It hurts me to see what is happening in my native country.
Ukraine is going through one of the most blood-soaked times in its nearly 25-year history as an independent nation. In the fall and winter of 2013–2014, more than one hundred civilian protesters were killed. Most of them were shot by snipers from behind police lines. But Ukrainians do not call their dead comrades “victims.” Instead, they call them “heroes” or the “Heavenly Hundred” and believe that the lives of these people will change the country for the better.
I dedicate the Heavenly Hundred installation to the memory of the heroes who sacrificed their lives during the Euromaidan protests. Each little bird with a face on it symbolizes the soul of the hero. Together they are flying skyward, reminding us of their immortal spirits.
I am sad such cruel events are happening in Ukraine and it is hard to believe that so many people died in a European country in the 21st century. But I am also very proud of my nation and I think the Ukrainian people deserve the positive changes that their thoughts and actions have set in motion.
It is often difficult to share private aspects of my life, yet this work expands beyond personal boundaries. When my mom was at the last stages of her life, she told us she did not want any specific religious ceremonies. She wanted to be cremated and have her ashes scattered in beautiful places. In moments of great discomfort during the transition to another world, she would pray out loud in her own words, asking God to take her soul and to release her from her body. I had never heard her praying before; where I come from people do not pray out loud. It turns out my mom was a truly spiritual person without any apparent religious ties.This experience inspired me to create the sculpture One With the Source. This hybrid being carries symbols of many religions coexisting on a fluid surface. Unity does not mean sameness yet all religions strive to be closer to Divinity. I hope humanity will continue to grow in understanding and love for each other as we recognize the differences between religions as parts of a bigger whole. We are all particles of the Divine being. We are all One.