Kostyantyn Tereshchenko
graphic artist, painter
Artist's statement:
Each and every one of us is a part of the great mosaic of society. We are all influenced by traditions, experiences and values of previous generations. But what happens when these connections are physically broken? When grandparents are absent, when relatives are far away? When events become fairy tales, and joint walks become unattainable dreams...
During the occupation, I became a father for the first time in my life.
In Kherson, we lived near the Port Elevator. When Dusya was born, a full-scale war began, followed by the occupation. My parents used to come and take Dusya for a ride in her stroller. Then there was evacuation.
My mother had a dream. In her dream, she comes to us and goes for a walk with a stroller. The weather is good, she walked around the Gymnazichna street, went to Suvorov Street, to the embankment and came back... She approaches the house and suddenly remembers that we went to Sweden. She is shivering, she looks into the stroller - but it is empty.
...War is like a grandmother carrying an empty baby-carriage into the future.