Of Bread and Salt Audio Recordings

Exhibited in 2024 at Gallery 4Culture in Seattle, WA, Хліб-сіль: Of Bread and Salt is a series of portrait series of eight Ukrainian families who immigrated to Seattle as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The paintings are based on recorded interviews. Each conversation began with questions about the participants’ homes and the experience of leaving. During the exhibition, a recording played giving voice to the paintings. Moving between Ukrainian, Russian and English, the voices of the sitters recounted the individual experience of displacement, weaving together a collective narrative.

Below, navigate to individual stories and choose between original recordings or English translations

LIUDMYLA AND YEVA

.. Оля, я тоді зрозуміла, що вона буде прекрасною мамою. Вона пів ночі сиділа з цим цуценям на підлозі, в кухні і заспокоювала цуценя, колихала його.”

“… Olya, I realized then that she would be a wonderful mother, she would sit on the floor in the kitchen with this puppy for half the night, soothing the baby, rocking him.

SOFYA BELINSKAYA

visual artist based in Seattle, WA

Of Bread and Salt Audio Recordings

LIUDMYLA AND YEVA

.. Оля, я тоді зрозуміла, що вона буде прекрасною мамою. Вона пів ночі сиділа з цим цуценям на підлозі, в кухні і заспокоювала цуценя, колихала його.”

“… Olya, I realized then that she would be a wonderful mother, she would sit on the floor in the kitchen with this puppy for half the night, soothing the baby, rocking him.