Stolen Spring

Artist Statement

I live in Bucha and work in Irpin. After the Russian occupation, these cities were destroyed. The military landscape has become my reality and routine. Every day I see people who are restoring their cities, their personal lives from the ruins and looking into the future. I created a series of photographs in a historical dialogue with images by Polish photographer Michael Nash, who captured how the photographer used a decorative backdrop to mask the ruins of Warsaw during World War II in 1945-1946. The heroes of my photographs are women who became victims of Russian aggression. A stolen spring is a stolen life. Each photo is a personal tragedy, but it is also a life-affirming story of a survivor, a hope that Ukraine will rise from the ruins.