Lyusterko, 2022, hand embroidered linen, digital photohraphy
Lyusterko, which means little mirror in Ukrainian, serves as the conduit between tradition and the future possibilities and recollection of tactile cultural facets — all while reflecting the contemporary nuances of human emotion and environmental or geopolitical changes for Ukrainian people and all who can relate to displacement.
Her being is a reply to the phenomena of cultural ossification, in which consistent trauma from cultural genocide leads to cultural elements reduced and preserved to continual redundant repetitions and stereotypes. Constant upheaval and instability in identity leads to a smaller amount of innovation in traditional practices, an emotional response to loss may override the risk of changing symbology, language, or visual style.