top of page

STATEMENT

My artistic and research practice centers on the concept of presence, expressed through the physical body and the visual signs it communicates. Exploring the state of "here and now," I focus on the boundary between the spoken and the unspoken, the hidden and the visible.

In my works, the categories of absence and emptiness, memory are not signs of the past — they become tools for a more acute sense of the present. I explore the moment when an intimate gesture transcends the boundaries of personal experience and acquires collective meaning. In my practice, the body appears as a carrier of signs: every touch or event leaves an imprint on it, testifying to fragility and changeability, strength, continuity, and interaction with others.

Working at the intersection of performance, painting, and installation, I use the fluidity of action as a metaphor for the “disappearing body.” Found natural (stones, sand), industrial (oil barrels, metal sheets), everyday (balloons), and family (photos, clothes, hangers, dishes) objects or materials in my projects become narrators of invisible stories. They contextualize place and time, emphasizing the elusive boundary where the object ends and the memory of it begins. Photos, audio and video documentation, and text capture the transformation of a gesture into a material document. 

All elements of my practice—from canvases and spatial objects to process-based actions—interact to form a cohesive symbolic system exploring presence, duration, disappearance, and rupture.

DSC01077.JPG

© Yaryna Shumska 2026

bottom of page