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- From the series “Mavkas. Camouflage” (1)
Grom Olena
The heroines of the project are real women, residents of the Ukrainian village of Horenka in the Bucha district. In March 2022, the village found itself on the front line and endured constant shelling. According to the UN, as a result of Russian aggression, 77% of buildings in Horenka were destroyed. For the local residents, those events became a severe trauma, as houses collapsed and neighbors died before their eyes. Striving to be useful members of the community, the women of Horenka organized a volunteer group called “Horenka Mavkas.” They are of different ages, professions, and social statuses, but they share the desire to do something important together.
Even the blackout of the winter of 2022-2023 did not stop them—under the constant threat of missile attacks, by candlelight, in the cold, the weaving of camouflage products continued. Even now, the women continue to produce nets that imitate natural colors and “kikimoras”—camouflage clothing for snipers and scouts that makes soldiers invisible and saves lives. The need for such items is constant; they are sent to the front as quickly as possible. The volunteers believe that camouflage products, woven with love and faith, have the power of amulets.
In times of the most difficult trials, the people turn to their roots, to the common ground that has shaped their national identity over millennia. Today, Ukrainian mythology has been very relevant alongside other cultural components. The folkloric image of the Mavka is one of the most famous, celebrated in legends, literary works, and art. An ambivalent figure on the border of the worlds of the living and the dead, recently, the Mavka—partly thanks to Lesya Ukrainka’s “Forest Song”—has become a symbol of victorious femininity and fiery, selfless love.
In each photograph, feminine virtues are revealed: beauty, gentle strength, connection to nature, love, care for family, sincerity, and unity with friends. The heroines of the photo project do not destroy or take revenge for the ruined homes and lives; they protect the present and build the future of new generations on their land. This future must be defended in war, and the Mavka, the Ukrainian woman, stood alongside her warriors.
This project resonates with the famous project by Andy Warhol “Camouflage” (1986), where the contrast between the impersonality of camouflage and the vibrant individuality of the portrait was utilized. The camouflage motif also appeared in the clothing created by Andy Warhol in collaboration with designer Stephen Sprouse. Camouflage, as an abstract pattern, offers a range of interpretations: from concealment to boldness, from the beauty of an idyllic landscape to the sniper’s tension. Such an allusion presents the heroines of the project in their vulnerability while also portraying them as protectors and guardians, whose strength is nature itself.
Olena Grom is a Ukrainian artist and documentary photographer, born in Donetsk. In April 2014, due to military events in Eastern Ukraine, she was forced to leave her hometown. Since 2017, she has lived in Bucha. Following the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, Grom and her family became refugees for the second time but returned after the de-occupation of Bucha.
These events significantly influenced her artistic practice. Photography became a refuge and a way to cope with the traumatic reality of war. Since 2016, she has focused on places affected by military aggression. Her lens captures victims of war, migrants, and refugees, as well as the war-torn landscape of Ukraine. However, her photographs are not mere illustrations of grief or sorrow. Life, despite everything, is one of the central themes for the artist. Olena Grom’s projects have been exhibited extensively in Ukraine and abroad and have received several international photographic awards.
Exhibitions
2024 – France. Paris. / International Women in Photo / Fish Eye Gallery / Exhibition
2024 – England. Leicester. / FORMAT24 / Exhibition
2024 – National Roman Museum – Palazzo Massimo / Italy. Rome. / I AM I AM / Exhibition
2023 – UBIENNALE: AWAKENING / Museum of the History of the City / Kyiv. Ukraine. / Exhibition
2023 – Warchive and CFF – Centrum för fotografi / Sweden / Under Attack with the Ukrainian Archive / Exhibition
2023 – Verwalter Haus / Berlin / TruthTrustTrees / Exhibition
2023 – University Museum of Fine Arts / State Florida / Women at War / Exhibition
2023 – Mattatoio di Roma. Contemporary Art Museum / Berlin / Odesa Photo Days. “Contra Spem Spero. Stories from Ukraine” / Exhibition
2023 – Stanford, Washington. / Women at War / Washington Gallery / Exhibition
2023 – Sweden / Rikstolvan Gallery / It’s a Mad, Mad World / Solo Exhibition
2023 – Berlin / You Know That You Are a Person / MOMENTUM. Berlin / Exhibition
2023 – Moldova. Kishinev / Culture Square / Exhibition
2022 – Eastern Connecticut State / Art Gallery of the University / Exhibition “Women at War”
2022 – Fridman Gallery New York / Women at War / Exhibition
2022 – USA Atlanta / “Ukraine on my Mind” / Exhibition
2022 – Southern Utah Museum of Art / “Reclaiming Agency: Ukrainian Women Photographers Today” / Exhibition
2022 – Philadelphia / Gallery Print Center / Ukrainian Photography Today / Exhibition
2022 – Berlin Zionskirche / “You Know That You Are Human” / Exhibition
2022 – Ukrainian House / Kyiv / “Flash. Ukrainian Photography Today” / Exhibition
2022 – UKRAINE / eastFOTO Gallery. Gruenewald / Germany / Exhibition
2022 – Moments Among the Ruins. Documentary Photos from Ukraine / Exhibition
2021 – Mystetskyi Arsenal / Sensitivity. Modern Ukrainian Photography / Exhibition
2019 – UPHA Made in Ukraine / Exhibition
2019 – Media Addiction. Ukrainian Version / National Center “Ukrainian House” / Exhibition
2018 – YICCA International Contest of Contemporary Art / Exhibition
2018 – Bronx Documentary Center USA / Exhibition
2017 – Bogota, at Jorge Jurado Gallery Colombia / Exhibition
2017 – ANIMA MUNDI Festival Palazzo Ca’ Zanardi Venice / Exhibition
2016 – Pavlovka Gallery / Solo Exhibition
Awards and Honors
2024 – Fine Art Photography Award / 1st Place / Title: Photographer of the Year
2024 – Xposure International Photography Awards / Festival’s Main Winner
2024 – KLPA International Portrait Photography Prize / Finalist
2024 – The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts / Second Place
2024 – LensCulture Portrait Awards 2024 / Finalist
2023 – INTERNATIONAL WOMEN IN PHOTO AWARD / Finalist
2023 – World Photo Annual by reFocus Awards / Bronze
2023 – Photometria Awards. Judged by Martin Parr / 1st Place / Finalist
2023 – LensCulture Portrait Awards United Kingdom / Finalist
2022 – London International Creative Competition / Finalist
2022 – GOMMA PHOTOGRAPHY Grant / Finalist
2022 – Tokyo International Photo Awards / Gold Prize
2022 – International Photography Awards “Best of Show 2022” by this year’s curator, Dr. Mark Sealy / New York
2022 – International Photography Awards / 1st Place / Editorial
2022 – Prix de la Photographie, Paris (PX3) / Gold in Portraiture
2020 – COCA2020. Center on Contemporary Art / Finalist
2018 – The Tokyo International Photo Awards / Silver
2018 – International Photographer of the Year USA / Second Place
2018 – Kaunas Photo Star Lithuania / Finalist
2018 – LensCulture Portrait Awards United Kingdom / Finalist
2018 – Slovak Press Photo / Finalist
2018 – International Photography Awards USA / Honorary Award
2016 – PHOTOGRAPHY SALOON «STROM» / Silver Medal, The Royal Photographic Society
Artworks Grom Olena
