Artist Statement
The “Guardian passage” is an interacting installation intertwining figurative images with Ukrainian poetry. It stems from my personal response to the experiences of the last year. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the genocide that followed it, made me search for a verbal and visual vocabulary expressing the burning pain of loss, despair, anger, and the spirit of resilience.
For me, the image of Motanka, a traditional Ukrainian guardian doll, became emblematic of people standing together in defense of their land. In Ukrainian tradition, Motanka, a small female-looking doll, occupies a special place. The name, "Motanka", comes from the Ukrainian “motaty” (to spin), the word capturing the process of making these dolls by spinning textiles from old family clothes. For centuries, Motanka-dolls were endowed with the power to protect a house and a family from trouble. This soft and feminine toy does not look threatening to the viewer. However, it encapsulates the motherly power to shelter and protect. Poems and songs offered a chant-like quality, a focusing point to hold on to. This succinct form allows one to create emotional space to grieve, cope, and resist. This succinct form allows one to create emotional space to grieve, cope, and resist. Through centuries of Ukrainian history, poems, ballads, and songs were perceived as powerful tools of resistance, testimonials of victories and defeats at times when the Ukrainian language was suppressed or forbidden.
Together, the Guardian Passage of images and poems inscribed in clay discovers the power of Ukrainian cultural memory in the face of the war. https://guardianpassage.web.app/
Photo credit: Natalia Zorina
