Anastasiia Mikhno

Anastasiia Mikhno lives in the vicinity of the front line of the war. On her photographs, one can see bunches of flowers appearing in the lips of the portrayed young people; the flowers are emerging like a song, a scream or vomit. The traumatic experiences have been converted into an idealized language of flowers. The artist suggests a positive and decorative vision of the human being instead of yet another sequence of images of violence and portraits of war victims. She also refers to the roots of the pacifist movements and the symbolism of flowers: flower power. Apart from the attempt to oppose the ongoing war, the other inspiration of the artist is the electronic music of Britain’s Bryn Jones, who works under a stage name Muslimgauze. In Flowers, the image and the sound build the idea of escape from the brutal reality and bring the message of the sublimation of aggression.

Kvity, 2014, wideo 02'00"
Flowers, 2014, video 02'00"

Dzięki uprzejmości artystki
Courtesy of the artist

Fotografie/Photos: Wojciech Pacewicz