This work was displayed as part of the Valuable Conversations exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery (January 2023)
This work responds to a sculpture in the collection of Wolverhampton Art Gallery by Gwynneth Cobden Holt titled ‘Blitz’. Cobden’s work is concerned with the bombing raids of World War II and the impact this had on the civilian population of British cities.
Україна23 echoes the repetition present in the brutalist architecture of the Wolverhampton School of Art building, but also acts as a mnemonic device that seeks to highlight the ongoing human cost of the Russo-Ukrainian War (2022-23). This kirigami sculpture is designed and constructed by hand and incorporates 260 folds and 116 cuts. Each fold represents c.31,443 refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe, and every cut symbolises c.1,313 Ukrainian refugees recorded in the UK as a direct result of the war.
Politicians understand and weaponise the apathy with which we often approach overwhelming statistics. Україна23 seeks to redress this de-humanisation, by reifying the shattered lives of the Russo-Ukraine War, using an architectural style that dominates our communities, evoking the buildings that encase our offices, occupations and homes.
