Dana Kavelina
Acknowledges:
Decorator: Anna Nykytiuk
Decorator: Uliana Pikhorovych
Director of photography: Mykhailo Chelnokov
Music: Volyn Field, Maksym Kavelin, Vira Sitsylitsyna
Artist and filmmaker Dana Kavelina works with animation and video, as well as paintings, graphics, and installations. Her work weaves together personal and collective memories, marginalized historical narratives, and contemporary urgencies, often touching upon the vulnerability of human and non-human beings.
Kavelina’s latest video installation offers a poetic reflection on justice in times of war. As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its third year, a new mobilization law, enacted earlier this spring, confronts some Ukrainian men with a difficult choice: comply and risk being sent to the frontline, or evade service and face penalties along with public condemnation.
Through her three-part stop-motion animation, displayed alongside folded screens with paintings, Kavelina attempts to understand cases of forced mobilization in Ukraine, raising critical questions about the rights of individual human and non-human actors alike. Environmental metaphors—such as “bad weather,” or the “rain is coming”—have been used on social media channels to inform people about potential drafting in the area. These circumstances, much like the weather, are nearly impossible to influence.
Reflections on the environment in Kavelina’s work also emerge through the relationship between humans and their surroundings during war, depicting the environment both as a territory to protect or surrender, and as a refuge that offers shelter and support amid chaos. Camouflage is used as a metaphorical line of escape, forging a connection between the individual and their environment, and suggesting a return home.
The theme of mimicry is also central to Kavelina’s work, unfolding in several ways: as camouflage that reflects the natural world and echoes the behaviors of various creatures, and through puppet animation, which serves as a repetition of reality, depicting nature with artificial materials. Kavelina’s work addresses the complexity of war and loss—experiences often difficult to articulate for those who have not lived through them—while suggesting nature as an unexpected possibility for escape or rebirth.
Acknowledges:
Decorator: Anna Nykytiuk
Decorator: Uliana Pikhorovych
Director of photography: Mykhailo Chelnokov
Music: Volyn Field, Maksym Kavelin, Vira Sitsylitsyna
Artist and filmmaker Dana Kavelina works with animation and video, as well as paintings, graphics, and installations. Her work weaves together personal and collective memories, marginalized historical narratives, and contemporary urgencies, often touching upon the vulnerability of human and non-human beings.
Kavelina’s latest video installation offers a poetic reflection on justice in times of war. As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its third year, a new mobilization law, enacted earlier this spring, confronts some Ukrainian men with a difficult choice: comply and risk being sent to the frontline, or evade service and face penalties along with public condemnation.
Through her three-part stop-motion animation, displayed alongside folded screens with paintings, Kavelina attempts to understand cases of forced mobilization in Ukraine, raising critical questions about the rights of individual human and non-human actors alike. Environmental metaphors—such as “bad weather,” or the “rain is coming”—have been used on social media channels to inform people about potential drafting in the area. These circumstances, much like the weather, are nearly impossible to influence.
Reflections on the environment in Kavelina’s work also emerge through the relationship between humans and their surroundings during war, depicting the environment both as a territory to protect or surrender, and as a refuge that offers shelter and support amid chaos. Camouflage is used as a metaphorical line of escape, forging a connection between the individual and their environment, and suggesting a return home.
The theme of mimicry is also central to Kavelina’s work, unfolding in several ways: as camouflage that reflects the natural world and echoes the behaviors of various creatures, and through puppet animation, which serves as a repetition of reality, depicting nature with artificial materials. Kavelina’s work addresses the complexity of war and loss—experiences often difficult to articulate for those who have not lived through them—while suggesting nature as an unexpected possibility for escape or rebirth.
