Daria Mostovshchykova

Daria Mostovshchykova (b.1995 in Poltava) is a painter from Ukraine. She said this about her residency:

“Thanks to the support of Artists at Risk, I had a truly happy part of the summer (as far as wartime is possible) in historic Monte Castello di Vibio. This place impresses with its architecture, silence and views.

During the period of residence, I created a series of paintings called “Windows of Monte Castello”.

I addressed the theme of the window as an exit and space earlier in the “My Window” painting series in which one scene from my Kyiv window was depicted many times (during the Covid pandemic).

Since the beginning of the war, the windows in my country have become different. For safety, they were taped or lined with cabinets. People painted windows in bomb shelters as an illusion of comfort and normal life. 

This time, the windows of ICArts workshop became the central theme of the works. It is about the hope for calmly opening windows in people’s homes. The window acts as a marker of a peaceful life.

Also, this series is about the aesthetics of everyday life, about the beauty around, about meditation, about one’s own healing therapy, which, like a palimpsest, unfolded when looking out the window at the Parrocchia S.Filippo E Giacomo church. The individual intertwined with the collective, reality with subconscious desire, the historical with the modern.

In addition to the opportunity to actively work, the ICArts residence became a place for new acquaintances with artists from different countries, which facilitated the exchange of experiences, lectures, self-presentations, and round tables on the topic of art. There was also support, excellent conditions for artists and organized trips to visit the best museums and historical monuments in Italy.

I am sincerely grateful to Artist at Risk, ICArts and Natalia Kravchuk personally for their help at all stages of the journey.”

Daria Mostovshchykova is an ARTISTS at RISK (AR)-UNESCO Resident at ICArts, Italy with the support of the UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund and the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals.