The first presentation of Lera Litvinova’s installation TRAUMA

The first presentation of Lera Litvinova’s installation TRAUMA was held in the gallery of American House during the opening of the exhibition IN POSITIVE.

TRAUMA is a discourse about mutual relations in society. This is a question for everyone: do we see a person despite our fears, ignorance and bias?

Severe disease, physiological disabilities, religious, social and other differences make society to brand some as "not like other" people. Art critic Leonora Yanko comments: "The exhibition IN POSITIVE is devoted to the problem of AIDS. But the theme of Lera Litvinova’s installation is actually even more than the problem of physical illness. It is about compassion and also about mental and spiritual "trauma" which cannot be seen, but deserves no less attention ".

Considering the notion of "brand" or "stigma" as a social or cultural process, the notion of stigmatization acts as a purely moral problem of society. The artist asks the question of human openness to the perception of another person with its specific features of any character, since the human uniqueness is possible only because of its imperfect.

Lera Litvinova commented: "The installation consists of almost 200 vertical white canes up to 3 meters high, growing up from the ground, creating a sense of a walk through the forest of slender trees. Lift your head and you will see the unique peak of each of them. Canes are rising up as if they are people. By this way I emphasize that we are all the same and all different at the same time. The canes visualize the rhythmic movement that society makes and reminds those of us who have become the backbone of other people ".

Also Lera Litvinova presented her new work “Portrait” during the opening of the exhibition "IN POSITIVE". It is a portrait of society painted through the lens of moral, emotional, social, and ethical judgments. It offers a generalized perspective aimed at encouraging the viewer to see the broad picture, to rise above the problem.

L. Litvinova in her ‘Portrait’ views society as a single organism, a holistic object with its merits and pitfalls, with transformative breakthroughs and failures, drawing a parallel with the personality of a person, and reminding us of our imperfections in the context of our distinctive features. It is a call for tolerance and acceptance of each other. The key idea of the work is objectification, an attempt to disengage oneself, an effort to look at the general in order to eliminate unfounded fears and judgments.

Lera Litvinova commented: “I expresses my personal gratitude to the Internet portal of decorative and finishing materials vmtrade.com.ua. and KOLORIT PAINTS LLC for help with creating the installation and also to Andrey Yaremko for help with engineering solutions.

The installation TRAUMA and artwork “Portrait” are available to viewing to December 30 in the gallery of American House during the exhibition IN POSITIVE.

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