Native

Timeline: 2025 – ongoing
Medium: Eco-friendly papier-mâché (recycled egg cartons and waste paper), collage of original digital photographs
Quantity: 3 objects completed, 6 in progress
Print: Canson photo paper

In this project, I create papier-mâché objects modelled after traditional Ukrainian utilitarian pottery. Reflecting my commitment to sustainable art, I craft these forms using recycled materials, such as egg cartons and waste paper. I then cover these objects with collages of my own photographs, reflecting a search for “native” symbols and the longing experienced during my displacement abroad at the start of the war.

During my temporary move abroad, my perception of the world there changed from admiration to a subconscious search for analogies with what remained in the Motherland.

Amsterdam’s modern buildings at sunset reminded me of Esplanadna Street in Kyiv, and a local railway tower evoked the view of the Hlibnya at St. Sophia Cathedral. When a neighbour gifted me a plate with Dutch decorative painting, I immediately recognised its striking similarity to Kosiv motifs, despite the different color palette.

These “volume collages” juxtapose urban and park landscapes of Ukraine and the Netherlands on papier-mâché bowls and jugs. These vessels represent the continuity of daily routine; even in displacement, they allowed me to maintain the domestic rituals of cooking and serving food just as I did at home.

Exhibition:

“Exhibition of Seven,” Museum of Ukrainian Diaspora, Kyiv (May–June 2025).