I dream of sleeping like I did many years ago. Back then, I would come home from work tired and fall into a deep sleep at the same moment. With just my head touching the pillow, I would dissolve without effort. And it was right.
Now I am carrying a sack full of bones. A sack of secrets and untangled knots, trauma and pain, sadness and grayness. A sack of bones of people who died in the war. A bag of enemy missile fragments. A bag of night sirens. At sunset, the gray seeps through that sack and envelops me, and the threads tie to my fingers and drag me into the tunnels of my thoughts. And there is no sleep there. There is fear and self-loathing.
I dream of sleeping like I used to. Where my bed is a ship on which I am flying home. Through the labyrinth of my past, I am looking for the tunnel, the bridge that will lead me to the real me. I am looking for the river whose waters will wash away the grayness from me.
My body has forgotten how to fall asleep, and I collect artifacts that will help it remember. Along the way, I collect bird feathers, sprouted cones, pieces of fog, shiny fish scales, twigs to light a fire, old boats, small empty bottles and plates, and the cries of seagulls. I travel far from home to find my sleep and bring it to my bed.
I am searching. I walk and walk. My movement leads me to peace. Peace in me and peace at my home. And movement becomes more meaningful when you frame it with stillness.
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Avajaiset ke 22.5.2024 klo 17-19. Lämpimästi tervetuloa!
Opening on Wednesday 22nd of May from 5 to 7 p.m. Welcome!
Taiteilija on tavattavissa myös tiistaina, lauantaina ja sunnuntaina.
Meet the artist also on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday.
Huom! Näyttely on poikkeuksellisesti avoinna jo tiistaina 21.5.
Avoinna | Open:
ti-ke | Tue, Wed 12-18
to-pe | Thu, Fri 11-17
la-su | Sat, Sun 12-16
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I am Olena Kayinska, an artist based in Lviv, Ukraine. I work in the genre of intellectual primitivism, paired together with deep philosophical and psychological senses. My fields of research are finding of inner peace, post-trauma recovery, and psycho-somatic healing. My paintings-dreams take the observers inside, to the subconscious, to the core. Trying to find the inner self, the observer wanders through the imaginary world, fantastic forests, filled with symbolic images and archetypical symbols, inhabited with mysterious creatures, each of which provides a guide to the final destination – true self. My aim is to make people happier.
My paintings show the endlessness of obvious and unobvious relationships in this world with the help of mysterious storylines with the metaphysical sense. Being the guide between the worlds, I mix reality and magic in a genuine meditative form of my witchcraft. Direct ascetism of the flat surfaces, completeness, and persuasiveness of the compositions, seamless statics, graphical coding of the deep sense into the schematic images, order, and rhythm of the paintings focus the observer’s attention on what is underneath.
I participated in 60+ exhibitions, contemporary art festivals and art residencies, and exhibited 12 personal projects. My paintings are kept in museum funds and private collections in Ukraine, Poland, Germany, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Hungary, United States, and Turkey.
More about my practice here -
Web site | Olena Kayinska
Instagram | Olena Kayinska
Me email – olena.kayinska@gmail.com
