An exhibition by Ukrainian refugee artists navigating memory, war, and the search for safety
Folk of Gloucester is proud to present Scattered Light, a l group exhibition showcasing the works of ten Ukrainian refugee artists. In the shadow of a war now entering its third year, these artists explore how displacement, memory, and resilience shape their new realities. Through diverse visual languages and media, each artist offers a unique reflection on the fragility of safety, the meaning of home, and the emotional terrain of living through collapse.
Curated by Olha Barvynka, Scattered Light brings together a constellation of perspectives that radiate through personal histories and shared grief.
“Thinking about the Ukrainian context is inevitable in every Ukrainian artist’s practice. Whether it’s immediately visible—as in Ganushchak’s photographs—or more subtle, like in the quiet presence of a water lily, together the artworks form a silent conversation. They speak with visual language to what we often find too painful to express through verbal language.”
— Olha Barvynka, curator of Scattered Light
Scattered Light does not centre on a single narrative but rather responds to the questions: What is a safe place? Where is the safe place?
Valentina Ksendz offers moments of healing and quiet reflection with her Repeating Waterlily works—evocative, timeless images that seem to float outside of conflict. Her serene practice stands in gentle contrast to the vibrant, dreamlike worlds of Oksana Fursovych, who channels the innocence of childhood through fantastical mushrooms, playful bunnies, and luminous fantasy flowers. Through abstraction and colour, Fursovych creates a joyful escape from turmoil, turning toward light as a form of resilience. For Andriy Andriyashchenko, the luminosity of colour holds spiritual meaning, and his oil paintings become visual testaments to the subject’s aura, depicted with classical academism.
For Ruslan Ganushchak, photography becomes a form of service and remembrance. While serving in the army, his lens captured the raw textures of contemporary Ukraine. In his still life images light falls across ruined walls and forgotten toys—transform wreckage into moments of haunting beauty.
Olha Barvynka approaches the concept of ruin as a philosophical and visual investigation. Her red and black geometric abstractions speak of the fragile threshold between order and chaos, system and collapse. Ruins, for her, are not just remnants, they are spaces of transition in constant flux.
Movement itself is central to Natalia Romanenko's work, which straddles the line between painting and written reflection. Through layered images and handwriting, she maps inner journeys, personal memories, and the unstable terrain between past and future. For Romanenko, art is a way to leave a trace in a fragmented history.
Yulia Holovatiuk’s sculptural practice is grounded in activism and memory. By incorporating found objects from bombed Ukrainian sites—like a melted chair—she connects physical ruin to individual stories. Her ceramic Lego blocks, covered in graffiti-glaze, challenge viewers to imagine how rebuilding might begin: piece by piece, voice by voice.
Through symbolism and traditional elements, Oksana Petrova tackles themes of identity and cultural memory. Resilience and collective spirit are captured in her politically surreal oil paintings. And finally, Roman Bonchuk’s vibrant paintings fuse political commentary with futuristic mythology. His work questions the meaning of identity and heroism when history itself is shattered.
Scattered Light is a collective meditation on the enduring human capacity to find light amid ruin. It is about war but also about art as sanctuary, resistance, and the ongoing search for places—real or imagined—where safety exists.
