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- Flowers of Ukraine
Briukhovetska Oksana
I turned to the theme of flowers in the devastating year of 2022, following the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, I found myself in the United States. Browsing through fabric stores filled with quilting patterns, I began to recognize the flowers of my homeland—the ones people grow beside their homes in towns and villages to surround themselves with beauty, such as roses and peonies, as well as those that bloom across Ukrainian fields, like poppies and cornflowers.
These works bring together grief and memories of the beauty and joy that one’s homeland can offer. A bouquet composed of many different flowers also becomes a metaphor for people coming together. When individual efforts are united, they create a stronger and more resilient community.
Thematic Dialogue with Amina Saudi Ait Khai
Oksana Briukhovetska is a Ukrainian artist, researcher, and curator. She was born in 1973 in Kyiv. She studied at the Ivan Trush Lviv College of Applied Arts (1989–1994) and the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture (Kyiv, 1997–2003). In 2021–2023, she earned an MFA from the Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan (USA). She lives and works in Kyiv.
Her artistic practice spans painting, textile, curatorial, and collaborative projects. Briukhovetska explores themes of feminism, embodiment, social justice, and traumatic memory. She has participated in numerous exhibitions in Ukraine and internationally, and worked as a curator and designer at the Visual Culture Research Center (Kyiv, 2009–2019).
In 2025, her book Black Lives Matter Voices was published by Choven, based on interviews conducted in the U.S. during the 2020–2021 protests, accompanied by her series of portrait illustrations. During Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she created the tapestry series Songs and Flowers for Ukraine (2022–2023), dedicated to the tragic pages of Ukrainian history and the lived experience of war.
Her latest solo exhibition SUGAR AND POPPY (KUT_artistrunspace, Kyiv, January 18 – February 9, 2025) is dedicated to the memory of her grandmother, Halyna Kysil. The project features textile portraits—some based on archival photographs, others imagined—woven together with childhood memories of scents, tastes, and stories that preserve the experience of several generations.
