If that sounds impossible—after sunset, in the Ukrainian Afterglow, even more unbelievable things happen.
This project is a series of mixed-media epoxy resin artworks that immerse the viewer in both the Ukrainian cultural-political context and the artist’s personal experience of growing up in a developing country, spanning from the 2000s to the present. The works explore political transformation and Eastern European visual codes, and sublimate family memory, subjective perception, and collective trauma.
At the center of it all is Yulia Tymoshenko—a politician who rose out of the wild ’90s, emerging from big business while channeling the energy of a glamorous blonde sex symbol with a provincial accent. A living meme and pop icon, she embodies the fleshiness of the Ukrainian Afterglow.
Using real campaign photos—Tymoshenko in space, on a motorcycle, hugging a tiger, spraying graffiti—the collages fuse local and global codes: Orthodox Christian holidays, echoes of the 2004 Orange Revolution, beach nightclub kitsch, underground gambling, oligarchs in tinted BMWs, all-consuming love, and yearning hopes for sunrise.
Vika is a Ukrainian artist originally from Odesa, living in Kyiv until 2022. She creates mixed-media works using epoxy resin, combining digital art, semi-precious stones, metal, toys, clothing, natural objects, and anything сool she can get her hands on.
Vika’s artistic research is mainly focused on longing, loneliness, laughter through tears, nostalgia for things that never existed, timeless safe worlds, hope, and humble love. Sometimes she regrets being let go from the court system — she could already be enjoying a prosecutor’s pension... now it's just a dream.
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