CEPA Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of photographic work by Lukia Costello entitled As I Wake, I Cry: Revisiting Ukraine.
As I Wake, I Cry: Revisiting Ukraine weaves together recent travel photos to Ukraine with family photos and cultural artifacts to reveal the emotional story of one artist’s road to cultural identification. This work is dedicated to the ‘Celestial 100′ who died at Euromaidan, the growing number of dead, wounded, and displaced, the many illegal prisoners of war, and the people of Russia – all suffering the effects of the illegal and undeclared Russian war in Ukraine.
This group of photographs were created during an August 2014 visit to Ukraine, 15 years after the artist’s first visit to the region. The calm pastorals and scenes of daily life offer a counterpoint to war front imagery and the propaganda that has sought to portray Western Ukraine and the city of Lviv in particular, as a hotbed of fascism. The title of this show relates to both the moment Lukia woke to realize that her Lviv bound train had crossed into Ukraine, as well as the many mornings before and since, as she followed Ukraine’s struggle for reinvention in the midst of a humanitarian crisis and war in its East.
Lukia Costello is a Western New York born Ukrainian-American photographer currently residing in Buffalo, NY. A Buffalo Society of Artist member and recent NYSCA Individual Artist Commission recipient, her work has shown and been published locally, nationally, and internationally.
As I Wake, I Cry will be on view from January 30 – March 28, 2015 in the 3rd Floor Passageway Gallery. An opening reception with the artist will be held on Friday January 30th from 7pm-10pm. This exhibition and event is free and open to the public. All are welcome to attend.