Ievhen Velychev appeals to the classical iconographic image of Hodegetria, as a symbol of protection and support. The work shifts the balance of the ideas of spiritual and material values of the modern world using the plans of a modern one-bedroom apartment instead of the people’s faces.
The artist urges to understand the correlation between home and living space, and asks whether the material values create the feeling of home, cosyness and peace of mind. In our troubled times, when people are forced to leave their houses and seek refuge in unfamiliar places, the symbolic meaning of the values has changed. It is high time to think of what we call home, and reassess the importance of its material embodiment.
It is placed horizontally to emphasize the change of how we comprehend the familiar concepts and symbols. The shift of the perspective shows the priority inversion and the viewer relives the conflict of the installation from the inside of it.
The installation is the courtesy of the Modern Art Museum, Odesa.
