What. Artist in Residence
When. May - ongoing 2022
Where.  Moskosel/Arvidsjaur
Organizers. Northern Sustainable Futures
Who. Olga Yurasova (b. 1989) is an artist based in Sevastopol
Instagram. @olga_yurasova

"My project will be dedicated to the Ukrainian children who have been suffering because of the war and to their mothers, who try to save their kids at the cost of their own lives because maternal love is the strongest love in the world. I am currently working on the sculpture of Mother and Child surrounded by creatures from Ukrainian mythology called “poterchata”. In Ukraine, this word refers to children who died unbaptized.

In my project “poterchata” symbolize the children who have been killed during the ongoing war, who have lost their parents, who have to leave their homes to escape from the enemy, who hide in the basements from Russian bombs, and wait for their parents defending the Motherland in the ranks of the Armed Forces to come back. In the center of the composition is the figure of a Mother holding her Child in her arms and hugging him. She shields the baby from all troubles, difficulties, and enemy bullets. At the same time, she saves these creatures “poterchata” by baptizing them, giving them peace and a new life.

The art object will be placed on the lake’s surface. Because water is the mother in Ukrainian mythology, the beginning of life, and a primordial element in almost everything. On the other hand, water is the end of life, a danger, and a shelter for otherworldly beings. From the earliest times, humans have associated water with anthropomorphic spiritual creatures. This art project is very personal for me. It is an attempt to explore my connection with my own child, which became even stronger because of the war, but also to comprehend the idea that every Mother is a Madonna, to realize that, as it turns out, there are no just other people's children,
because we are all connected.

My name is Olga Yurasova. I'm a Ukrainian production designer and a visual artist. I have study at the Ukrainian National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture in Kyiv and the Screen Arts department. I graduated from Academy in 2013 and received a Masters degree as a scenographer.I've worked with several film directors from Ukraine, Russia and the EU. One of the biggest and the most important projects for me was “Ayka”, a drama directed by award-winning Kazakh director Sergey Dvortsevoy. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, and it took the Best Actress Award there. «Ayka» was in the Oscar's shortlist of international feature films. 

Also I'm working with animation and visual art. I've made my own short animated films that got a few Ukrainian and international prizes. The biggest project was animated novels for the documentary “Krasna Malanka” about the Malanka holiday directed by Ukrainian film-director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. I’ve made art directing and mentoring these novels.

Growing up in a southern city by the sea it had a great influence on my artistic life. I always try to depict emotions and feelings from the depths of my heart in my works. Especially, these times when my country is suffering because of the Russian invasion, I just can’t keep silent and do nothing. I want to act doing what I can and reflect on the tragedy through my art. Now I’m in Moskosel Creative Lab residency and I'm really thankful for that. It is the perfect peaceful place to bring my ideas to life."

The residency is carried out in collaboration with SWAN Emergency Residencies and Artists at Risk.