Mother/Land (Central Library)

Audiovisual performance featuring projected animation, animatronic sculptures, music, and movement.

Mother/Land
Fall 2023

Austin Central Public Library
Gallery dimensions: 30’ x 24’ x 33’4”
Art by Yuliya Lanina
Sound design by Nina C. Young
Curator Nicole Parker

In Mother/Land I continue my exploration of the emotional and physical impact of war and trauma, this time addressing the current war in Ukraine. The main feature is an animation of ink drawings I made since the invasion, which moves in a carousel motion to show the dizzying effect of witnessing the war from afar through an endless stream of news and images. The seventeen one eyed poppy flowers (seventeen stands for the age I left Russia) are scattered around the floor, mourning the victims and bearing witness to this senseless and cruel war. In the middle of the flower field stands the mechanical figurine with a rotating drum in its stomach, representing brokenness and the internal processes that arise during stressful times – intense stomach aches, nausea, and illness.

Also on view are the drawings I’ve been making since the war began.

>>> Link to one channel projection

Photos by Scott David Gordon