Daria Koltsova

Daria Koltsova is one of the remarkable figures of the contemporary Ukrainian scene in these difficult times for her people, subjected to the atrocities of war. Her artistic work, which includes installations, performances and videos, brings together political and personal dimensions. Her works succeed in making current geo-political or social situations sensitive and tangible, by associating their intimate perceptions and their repercussions on individuals. Moving away from an attempt at realistic representation, she gives form to new images, sometimes derived from historical or iconographic research. Since the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the war in Donbass in 2014, she has been working on the effects of war and questioning the possibilities of protections and resiliencies. Memory, displacement, silenced bodies, and the ambiguous relationship of protection-fragility are some of the topics addressed by Koltsova. The artist’s memories stretch as an unlimited ray of light, diluting constantly in her head yet wanting to manifest as visibly as possible. On the verge of destruction caused by the war, the artist creates and thus reveals multiple possibilities of resilience and hope.