Irynka "Ira" Gvozdyk was born in 1983 in Kyiv, Ukraine. She graduated from the National Medicine University and then did a degree at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Printmaking. Her works have been shown in Kyiv in several solo exhibitions, including at the US Embassy International Gallery and Gallery 83. She exhibited in 2018 at the 9th International Biennale for Prints in Douro, Portugal, and in 2022 in the exhibition Ukrainische Grafik at FARB Museum, in Borken, Germany.
Ira Gvozdyk also works as a curator and founded the annual exchange program "Ukrainian Print Exchange" in Kyiv in 2016. In 2019 she curated the exhibition The one who fades away by Dmytro Prosvietov at Gallery 83 in Kyiv. She also represented Gallery 83 at Context Art Miami in 2019, and in 2020 she curated a group exhibition as part of Kyiv Art Week. In 2022 she received a special scholarship at the Künstlerhaus Dortmund, a grant from FÖRDER KORB kulturbuero DORTMUND, and the Künstlerhaus Lukas Ahrenshoop.
During her residency at Funen Printmaking Studio, Irynka worked with photogravure, a technique she felt comfortable with since she had documented her journey from Ukraine to Germany in a photographical way.
Irynka gave an artist talk at Funen Printmaking Studio on the 21st of July. The war in Ukraine was on the news every day at that time, which made this event very relevant to the audience.
Above image: Irynka Gvozdyk, My Way to Home. Photogravure, 14.5 x 19.5cm. 2022.
Irynka's work My Way Home is a representation of artistic allusions and reminiscences created under the influence of changes in the living environment. The artist depicts longing; a state of devastation from a journey into the unknown. A journey that does not bring joy is a forced state that does not have a deadline. Through the lens of the smartphone camera, she leads the viewer through her own path, which actually unites the paths of many Ukrainians.
Ukrainians who leave Ukraine and Ukrainians who have been living outside of Ukraine for a long time have a common history, nationality and common pain - war. But the name itself has an optimistic meaning - fleeing from war, the end point is not a foreign country, but one's own. Having left Ukraine in an unknown direction and without a plan, Ira has only one clear goal - to go back home.
Residency dates: 5th - 25th July 2022
