HEART OF BIRCH
2011–2020, performance, video installation
In ZINAIDA's prominent multimedia project "HEART OF BIRCH", which consists of an installation, fashion collection, performance and the videos "Heart of birch" and "Vessels of Life", the artist urges the public to protect the environment, saying "by destroying forests, we destroy not only nature, but ourselves. Let's take care of the trees with the same enthusiasm as we care for human life. Realising the significance of such an attitude to nature, we will not only preserve it, but preserve ourselves!"
The installation, comprising a birch trunk and organic plastic, is the central part of the project. In so doing, the artist appeals to Slavic mythology, according to which, the birch is a female symbol and a heart — considered as the container of the soul. In prints, made for the fashion line, which is an another part of the interdisciplinary and interlinking project, ZINAIDA recreates tree branches, leaf veins and the vessels of tree trunks, positing them as manifestations of the intrinsic coexistence of people and nature. The core component of the video "Vessels of Life" is the performance "Heart of Birch", in which ZINAIDA proposes to perceive the forest as one organism that breathes, lives and sensitively responds to trouble. In the video, the artist overlays the record of her performance "Heart of Birch" with news reports from 2020 addressing Ukrainian forest fires.
The video "Heart of birch" is symbiotic, stitching together fashion, art, and eco-activism. The audio component of the video takes the form of a song by Ukrainian ethnic singer Katya Chili. Video styling is by Julie Pelipas, Vogue Ukraine's Fashion Editor. The video "Heart of birch" functions as a launchpad in proposing continued implementation of the project in exhibitions.
The performance "Heart of Birch" has been presented within the framework of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (NSC Olimpiyskiy, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2011). The project "Vessels of Life" was shown on the leading Ukrainian TV channels in 2020 as a video accompanying ZINAIDA's artist manifesto.
The installation, comprising a birch trunk and organic plastic, is the central part of the project. In so doing, the artist appeals to Slavic mythology, according to which, the birch is a female symbol and a heart — considered as the container of the soul. In prints, made for the fashion line, which is an another part of the interdisciplinary and interlinking project, ZINAIDA recreates tree branches, leaf veins and the vessels of tree trunks, positing them as manifestations of the intrinsic coexistence of people and nature. The core component of the video "Vessels of Life" is the performance "Heart of Birch", in which ZINAIDA proposes to perceive the forest as one organism that breathes, lives and sensitively responds to trouble. In the video, the artist overlays the record of her performance "Heart of Birch" with news reports from 2020 addressing Ukrainian forest fires.
The video "Heart of birch" is symbiotic, stitching together fashion, art, and eco-activism. The audio component of the video takes the form of a song by Ukrainian ethnic singer Katya Chili. Video styling is by Julie Pelipas, Vogue Ukraine's Fashion Editor. The video "Heart of birch" functions as a launchpad in proposing continued implementation of the project in exhibitions.
The performance "Heart of Birch" has been presented within the framework of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (NSC Olimpiyskiy, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2011). The project "Vessels of Life" was shown on the leading Ukrainian TV channels in 2020 as a video accompanying ZINAIDA's artist manifesto.