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Oksana Briukhovetska

Lecturer I

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Oksana Briukhovetska

Biography

Curriculum Vitae
  • MFA, U‑M Stamps School of Art & Design
  • National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture, Kyiv, Ukraine

Oksana Briukhovetska, born and lives in Ukraine. Her artistic practice reflects the post-Soviet social landscape as well as autobiography. She works with topics of memory, social and gender trauma, touching on social topics through the study of personal experience. Her work addresses the issues of Ukrainian labor migration, the impacts of ongoing military conflict, and the realities of motherhood. Her research practice often includes interviews and conversations, while utilizing a wide range of mediums: drawing, painting, textile, writing, public installation, and interventions into urban spaces. She has also worked on book and graphic design. For nearly a decade she worked as a curator at the Visual Culture Research Center in Kyiv, where her main intention was to give voice to women artists. She continues to research feminist art in both Eastern and Western Europe and is co-editor of the book collection of interviews, published in Ukrainian and English: The Right to Truth: Conversations on Art and Feminism (VCRC, 2019). Among others, she has also collaborated with the Warsaw Museum of Modern Art, European Alternatives, and Krytyka Politychna (Political Critique).

In recent years she has lived in the US, where she has been researching and writing a new book, which aims to present to a Ukrainian audience a more critical discussion of race and anti-racist struggle. She has interviewed over 20 people from different US cities talking about their experiences of racism, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the protests of 2020.

News

Photo collage of MFA student selfies and artwork from exhibitions visited.

MFA Professional Practice Seminar 2022
Image of rug by Oksana Briukhovetska

"I have a crisis for you": Women Artists of Ukraine Respond to War

Work

This is an image made from pieces of fabrics of different patterns as a collage. They are sewed with sewing machine. It depicts a landscape, where the ground made of yellow fabric with sunflower pattern and the sky is blue. In between the ground and the sky there are buildings of few floors of grey colors that are burning due to an explosion. There is a fire and smoke inside the building that is going out and to the sky. On the top of an image on the blue background there are red numbers: 2022, and below on the yellow background are black words "My Ukraine in Flame". There are few red roses falling down on the ground like a drops of blood. The frame of the image is red, also made with fabric. The lower part of the frame extended as a blood dripping toward the floor. There is another thin frame between the image and a red frame, made of blue and yellow strips, which are the colors of Ukrainian flag. Oksana Briukhovetska: My Ukraine in Flame Graduate Oksana Briukhovetska: My Ukraine in Flame
There is a tapestry made from the pieces of fabrics of different patterns as collage. The background of an image is in gray and lilac tones with pale flowers. They fall on the ground like snow. The ground is white. There are more than a dozen white crosses of graves that emerge from the ground. This symbolic landscape is decorated by different kinds of flowers cut from different fabrics of floral patterns, and these flowers frame the image and fall on the ground near the graves. On the top of the image are red word "Why", and the question mark is red and is under the question. Below, on the white background of the ground are a gray word "War". The frame of the image is red and made of fabrics. It extends to a blood that drains to the floor and forms a puddle of blood made of fabric. Between the image and the red frame there is another thin frame made of blue and yellow strips which are the colors of Ukrainian flag. Oksana Briukhovetska: Why War? Graduate Oksana Briukhovetska: Why War?
There is a tapestry made from the pieces of fabrics of different patterns as collage. The image depicts the window with a white open curtains on both sides. The background of the image which represents the view from the window is covered with gray roses which turn red on the ground. In the middle of that background there is a gray bird flying. It is made as a separate 3D object and attached to the fabric. From the body of the bird there is a red stripe going down representing blood flowing from the wound. The frame of the image is red and made of fabrics. It extends to a blood that drains toward the floor. Between the image and the red frame there is another thin frame made of blue and yellow stripes which are the colors of the Ukrainian flag. On the top of the red frame there are dark gray words: "A cuckoo flew through my house" which are the words from a Ukrainian folk song. Oksana Briukhovetska: A Cuckoo Flew Through My House Graduate Oksana Briukhovetska: A Cuckoo Flew Through My House
There is a tapestry made from the pieces of fabrics of different patterns as collage. The background of the tapestry is yellow, which represents sunlight. The sun is depicted with sun rays of different fabric patterns and covers all the background. The portraits of three women are depicted in profile. The first woman on the forefront is black. Her hair is dark and her dress is of fire pattern, red, orange and black. The next woman behind her is yellow with black hair and a colorful dress. Behind her is a white woman with light hair and a blue dress. They are all looking in one direction. Oksana Briukhovetska: In Solidarity of Women of the World Graduate Oksana Briukhovetska: In Solidarity of Women of the World
We see the large panoramic window of Cepelia Pavilion building in Warsaw. Inside the window there is a mural on the whole wall. It is an azure and orange flag with a phrase written on top. There are people inside on the background of the mural, as this is the opening of the exhibition. Oksana Briukhovetska: Ukrainian-Polish flag Graduate Oksana Briukhovetska: Ukrainian-Polish flag
In the photo we see posters paced on a billboard. In one poster elderly waitress is holding a tray of used dishes. She is wearing a yellow blouse and a green apron. In other poster there is a young nurse wearing a medical uniform. Oksana Briukhovetska and David Chychkan: Posters 'I am Ukrainka'. Waitress and Nurse. Graduate Oksana Briukhovetska and David Chychkan: Posters 'I am Ukrainka'. Waitress and Nurse.
We see from behind a man in a dark grey business jacket. The jacket is embroidered with handmade decorations traditionally associated with women. That includes colored patches and a collage of flowers that absurdly scattered on the back. Oksana Briukhovetska: Suit Jacket Graduate Oksana Briukhovetska: Suit Jacket
It is a collage of 10 paintings, each of them shows a fragment of the story of the main character Uncle Tolia. We see Tolia with wounded and bandaged arm drinking vodka; dogs that remined soldiers; the male sodiers themselves; explosions; deaths; women crying because her man is killed; Tolia talking to woman in the shop; Tolia talking to doctor in the hospital; Tolia's wife talking by phone to psychologist. Oksana Briukhovetska: Uncle Tolia Graduate Oksana Briukhovetska: Uncle Tolia