The exhibition A Closer Look: Conflicted Art From Ukraine

Most of the pieces in the exhibition highlight the lives of people directly affected by Russia’s 2022 invasion. For example, Nataliia Amirova’s watercolors depict everyday scenes of Ukrainian life with exquisite detail, while Khrystyna Otchyts-Cherniak’s predominantly red drawings portray protesters, displaced persons, and victims of war. Her works are deeply symbolic, with splashes of ink evoking the bloodshed of the conflict.

Andriy Dubchak’s documentary photographs, including portraits of refugees and a young soldier standing atop a captured Russian tank, are presented in a floor-to-ceiling banner format. Roman Rabyk’s sculpture, created from metal and resin, pays tribute to Ukrainian soldiers, blending the strength of a monumental head and shoulders with the fragility of lattice-like structures.

Olena Alyabieva and Roman Bonchuk focus on war-torn locations in their works. Alyabieva’s dramatic black-and-white sketches emphasize stark contrasts, while Bonchuk’s watercolors capture the symbolism of the steel plant in Mariupol, which became a fortress for Ukrainian defenders. Serhii Simutin’s stylized pieces, *Holy Wheat* and *Holy Corn*, reference Ukraine’s agricultural heritage and its pre-war status as Europe’s breadbasket.

Curators Sophie Bey and Yevhen Nemchenko included several distinctive pieces, such as Yevhen Baraban’s “bomb,” adorned with traditional Ukrainian pysanka patterns, and a fragment of a Russian helicopter. The latter, a non-artistic object, is a powerful and direct reminder of Ukraine’s fight for survival.

A Closer Look: Conflicted Art From Ukraine Through Aug. 23 at Mason Exhibitions Arlington, 3601 Fairfax Dr., Arlington. masonexhibitions.org