Artist's statement:

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…When they were young, my grandparents moved to Kherson from Novosibirsk - which they described as a gray and cold city. My grandfather was offered a job in Kherson, so he went "scouting". He was so impressed that everything is green here even in winter and the sun is always shining, that they got together and moved to a new home without thinking twice. Here they settled down and became firmly rooted to the city.

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In the year I was born, my grandparents built a small dacha on the banks of the Konka River, a tributary of the Dnipro. For us, that dacha became a place where you could regain peace with yourself. I remember that my grandmother and mother planted many flowers, each of them had their favorites. For example, my mother always loved roses. We also had a lot of medicinal chamomiles, which she used to treated us when we got sick in winter. There were also tulips, daffodils, peonies, roosters and many other flowers that they planted. My heart forever belonged to yellow and white river lilies.

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All my life, this blooming paradise of small dacha inspired me.

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The explosion of the Kakhovka HPP destroyed the heritage that my relatives were building for us. For me, it’s basically my whole life, which had its roots torn out.

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Now, for me, any flowers are a symbol of something bright and beautiful that remained in my soul. My memories are carefully wrapped in hope, like a wet handkerchief that prevents the roots from drying up and dying. Wrapped in hope, that we can return home.

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