Anastasiia Sviridenko
Scape

13.–28.4.2024
Opening hours: Thu–Sun 2–6 pm
Opening on Friday 12 April at 6–8 pm

When she stood at the entrance to those caves that are now called the metro, red-orange flashes rumbled at the edge of the sky. The sky, terribly swollen with hellish fumes and rage, emitted a wild and dangerously attractive glow. She was locked underground until early morning, among black and white marble. The light came in the form of curved metal arches with flowers at the ends.

She woke up safe. The landscape around was different: thick fog and milky air. Plants, towards which she had been so ignorant before, came to life and began to teach her the art of healing. Trees became her confessors. Listen and obey: “A plant, suffering in all directions, carries a seed, and it is this alone that forces the dead to leave their graves.”

* 

Anastasiia Sviridenko (b.1996) is a Ukrainian painter and draughtswoman. Currently living and working in Helsinki, Anastasiia is a resident at HIAP during this spring.