Lullaby 5

installation created for a set space, plywood, video, looped video | The work was created especially for the exhibition "Sense of Safety" / 2024

Katya Lesiv works with cyclicality, physicality, and emotional and sensual experience. In her artistic practice, she focuses on the sense of presence through the materiality of various media, including photography, art books, installations, objects, text, drawings, and video. The performative method, often based on domestic or personal rituals, is a way of completing and sharing an intimate experience without violating the boundaries of personal space. With her installation, Lullaby 5, the artist transforms the exhibition space of the YermilovCenter and creates conditions for the viewer to interact with the work.

The created object overlaps the steps but retains the practical function of moving between the floors of the space. Under the changed conditions, a space for a person appears between the floor and the object. A cramped, secluded hideout can be a reference to children's "shack" constructions as an intention to build a safe, controlled space. At the same time, inside the object, the claustrophobic descent from above and the sound of footsteps overhead can cause anxiety, danger, and hopelessness. The sound of the video can be heard from inside the structure, but it can only be seen by lying inside the object.

Regardless of the association, your interaction with the artwork will be guided by curiosity and physical engagement, both of which are signs of safety and trust.