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IRYNA DUNAEVA

Resident of CUTOUT COLLAGE ART PROJECT: September 2024 - Today

 

Iryna’s creative journey began in Lviv, where she designed and created clothing for renowned brands in EU countries. After relocating to Kyiv, she chose to further explore her creative potential by venturing into interior design while simultaneously studying mathematical modeling of economic systems, focusing on the influence of fractal structures on economic cycles.

 

Her artistic path then led her to the "School of Modern Art" at the Modern Art Research Institute. Leaving behind her experience in design and mathematics, she is now fully devoted to expressing her worldview through art.

The start of her career as an artist coincided with the outbreak of full-scale

war. From the very first days, Iryna remained in Kyiv with her family, engaging in volunteer work. This experience was pivotal and deeply impacted her art. She shifted her artistic focus from global ecological issues to the genocide against the Ukrainian nation. The horrors unfolding outside left no refuge even within. By replicating the stories they live through, artists like Iryna reinforce collective memory and imprint these events onto consciousness.

 

In her artistic practice, Iryna works with mediums such as painting, photography, installation, and collage. In 2023, she embraced sculpting using the papier-mâché technique, a method historically used to create images for "Malanka" celebrations. Molding wet paper into forms, she feels as though she is connecting with the spirits of her ancestors, drawing strength from the deep traditions of her nation.

 

In early 2024, Iryna became a member of the CUTOUT LOVERS community under the CUTOUT COLLAGE ART PROJECT, and in September of the same year, she became a resident. As a resident of CUTOUT FESTIVAL, joined the art activism project "For the Sake of a Letter," where artists and the families of prisoners of war came together to draw attention to the violations of the conditions of detention of prisoners of war (both military and civil) in russia and breaches of the Geneva Convention regarding the right to correspondence.

 

In September 2023, she joined forces with artists Liliya Topolyuk and Masha "Iskra" to participate in the collective exhibition "Seeing Dreams" with the project "Masks Framing Myth," which was presented in January 2024 at the "Museum of History" in Kyiv. Their joint research on the myths of various regions of Ukraine led to the creation of the art group "Masks³." In 2024, this art group was showcased with two large-scale installations—"Square Thoughts" and "Free Thoughts"—that explore the connection and influence of myths on contemporary society, at VDNH in the "V'yava" space.

EXHIBITIONS

2024

- "For the Sake of a Letter," Le Bonheur Est Dans L'Instant, France, Paris. An art activism project aimed at supporting prisoners of war.

-  "In Search of the Inner Self," National Complex "Expocenter of Ukraine", Ukraine, Kyiv

- "IDENTIFICATION. Code of the Nation," National Complex "Expocenter of Ukraine", Ukraine, Kyiv

-"Seeing Dreams," Museum of the History of the City of Kyiv, Ukraine, Kyiv

- "Transformations," HotArtHall, Hnat Khotkevych Palace,Ukraine, Lviv

- "Nude," Creative Cluster/At the Post, Ukraine, Ternopil

 

2023

- "Feelings Before Christmas of the Second Year of Full-Scale Invasion," THE STEIN STUDIO, Ukraine, Kyiv

 

2022

- "Things from the Inner Space" Institute of Problems of Contemporary Art of the National academy of arts of Ukraine, Ukraine, Kyiv

ARTWORKS

My art is a general collage of different media.

I gather pieces of ancient embroidered shirts, worn by time, clippings from magazines, fragments of myths that immerse one in stories from childhood; I strive to weave peaceful memories with the harsh realities of war, creating images that resonate with our everyday lives.

 

I aim for viewers, while immersing themselves in my world, to find echoes of their own memories and experiences within it. The goal of my artistic practice is to create a space for reflection, where fragments of the past and present meet, forming new narratives that inspire dialogue.

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