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Briukhovetska Oksana
This work, titled “Palestine”, is a powerful visual statement about war, pain, and destruction. At its center is a large question mark that also resembles a female figure or divine symbol, formed from flower-like sunflowers — symbols of life, light, and hope. But the background burns with red flames, black smoke, and ruined buildings, evoking chaos and loss. The text “BLOOD OF PALESTINE” reinforces the message — the price of human lives, spilled blood, and pain passed down through generations.
The piece feels like a blend of icon, poster, and protest banner. The central question mark seems to embody the uncertainty of the future — a plea for humanity, and a challenge to a world that merely watches.
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.
