Plankton (2018) by Zoryana Pochynayko - subjektiv.art
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Zoryana Pochynayko
Artist from Ukraine
Zoryana Pochynayko is a Ukrainian visual artist, theatre maker and composer whose practice explores the boundaries between the corporeal, the mythical and the subconscious. Working primarily with painting, performance, sound and moving image, she creates hybrid worlds where ancient archetypes encounter contemporary anxieties and fragmented realities.
Her visual practice is rooted in an intuitive and embodied approach. Drawing on mythology, ritual, Butoh, folk traditions and dream imagery, she investigates transformation, identity, vulnerability and the unstable boundary between human and non-human. Her paintings often emerge as visceral, enigmatic figures and landscapes that seem to exist somewhere between a dream, a ritual and a distorted memory.
Alongside her visual art practice, she is the founder and artistic director of Zhivago Independent Theatre and the founder of the experimental music project MRYAKA. Her interdisciplinary work frequently brings together image, sou
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Zoryana Pochynayko
Artist from Ukraine
Zoryana Pochynayko is a Ukrainian visual artist, theatre maker and composer whose practice explores the boundaries between the corporeal, the mythical and the subconscious. Working primarily with painting, performance, sound and moving image, she creates hybrid worlds where ancient archetypes encounter contemporary anxieties and fragmented realities.
Her visual practice is rooted in an intuitive and embodied approach. Drawing on mythology, ritual, Butoh, folk traditions and dream imagery, she investigates transformation, identity, vulnerability and the unstable boundary between human and non-human. Her paintings often emerge as visceral, enigmatic figures and landscapes that seem to exist somewhere between a dream, a ritual and a distorted memory.
Alongside her visual art practice, she is the founder and artistic director of Zhivago Independent Theatre and the founder of the experimental music project MRYAKA. Her interdisciplinary work frequently brings together image, sou
Where were you transported by this artwork?
Contribute your perspective to the community & earn rewards. Leave your reflection below.
"Plankton" captures the profound sense of human disorientation and vulnerability in the vast expanse of the world. The painting draws a striking visual parallel between humanity and bioluminescent plankton drifting in the ocean. The dark figures, marked with bright, glowing patterns, are submerged in a deep, textured blue, representing individuals who are completely untethered, carried aimlessly by the unpredictable currents of life and society.
Stripped of their agency, these figures are swept away by forces much larger than themselves. Yet, amidst this existential drift, they reach their hands upward in a desperate plea. This collective upward gesture symbolizes a universal yearning for connection, salvation, or simply a response from the void—a poignant reflection on the human struggle to find meaning and help when feeling entirely lost in the tide.
Zoryana Pochynayko is a Ukrainian visual artist, theatre maker and composer whose practice explores the boundaries between the corporeal, the mythical and the subconscious. Working primarily with painting, performance, sound and moving image, she creates hybrid worlds where ancient archetypes encounter contemporary anxieties and fragmented realities.
Her visual practice is rooted in an intuitive and embodied approach. Drawing on mythology, ritual, Butoh, folk traditions and dream imagery, she investigates transformation, identity, vulnerability and the unstable boundary between human and non-human. Her paintings often emerge as visceral, enigmatic figures and landscapes that seem to exist somewhere between a dream, a ritual and a distorted memory.
Alongside her visual art practice, she is the founder and artistic director of Zhivago Independent Theatre and the founder of the experimental music project MRYAKA. Her interdisciplinary work frequently brings together image, sou
