The 40х30х20 project focuses on changes during a full-scale russian invasion. Its first part concerns the beginning of 2022.
I take the Arkadia beach in Odesa as the subject of my research, which is both witnessing and undergoing these changes. In the first months of the invasion, the resort area was mined to prevent the landing of russian marines. At the same time, it blocked access to it for locals and tourists. Almost right on, wild plants sprouted on the beaches. That was a complete change of the beach landscape, which had always been overcrowded with people.
War affects and changes everything, and nature fully absorbs its influence. The beach responded to the war by growing wild plants.
For me, these plants became the main symbol of will because they germinated in difficult conditions of salt water, sand, and stones. In addition, the plants proved that, despite the war, they have their lives.
All works of the 40x30x20 series are divided into parts sized 40x30 cm. These are the hand luggage standards, and I had to fit all my important belongings, including the paintings of this series, in this size when leaving Ukraine in 2022. The paper folds that appeared as a result are the traces of that time.
I started this series in August 2022 after a long separation from Odesa. Then, in the summer, I sensed a completely new, apocalyptic atmosphere on the beach. I also noticed the rusty metal structures that have always been an integral part of this seascape. In Soviet times, they used to be covered with a heavy slate and cast a shadow on the vacationers who were sitting below on the sand. These structures are ghosts of the Soviet Union, mere skeletons. Today, these structures cannot be used for their original purpose. If we decide to “bring them back to life” and put a heavy slate on them, they will collapse. Here I draw an analogy with the imperialist intention of russia to regain its influence over the former Soviet Union member states. This is an attempt to restore the old system, i.e. to bring back to life what is already dead. An unsuccessful and unwanted attempt.
The mosaic is a significant and poetic detail of this project. I used shells and pebbles from the Arkadia beach to make it. At my request, my relatives, friends, and acquaintances collected them during 2022/2023. These shells are witnesses of that period, witnesses of changes.
Art created in any medium encapsulates time. Mosaic literally encapsulates, or ‘cements’, time. Moreover, it becomes a metaphor for collective effort and collective resistance. The mosaic depicts waves—the sea, where pebbles and shells were collected at the coast.

The part consisting of “The End of Alarm” and “The Beginning of Alarm” combines two graphic works, which are also divided into fragments of 40x30x20.
The word “alarm” has more than one meaning. Today, when the air alarm ends, emotional alarm does not always leave with it.
With the invasion raging, the sky, which is the backdrop for both works, became another unprotected dimension. The sky has become a full-scale place of threat, no longer associated with peace and dreams.

The 40x30x20 series took part in more than a dozen of exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad.