Volt Agapeyev
Visual artist
ResidencyOstriv Platform
Hosting periodAutumn-Winter 2023
BIO
Volt Agapeyev was born in 1989 in Ternopil and currently lives and works in Kyiv. In 2012, he graduated from the Ternopil National Pedagogical University, Institute of Arts, where he studied in the Fine Arts department. He then received additional education at the New Art School (Media Art for Practitioners course) in 2013 and at SVC (Graphic Design: Master’s course) in 2016.
As a multidisciplinary artist, Agapeyev works with many mediums, but the focus of his practice is on ink drawings, murals and media art. With those techniques, he explores the amorphization of boundaries between human consciousness, technology and nature. He believes that with each passing day, the connections in this interpenetrating triad become stronger and the demarcation more illusory. Through the prism of concepts such as hybridization, control, modern mythology and sacredness, Agapeyev reveals how the processes transform each of us, our sign systems and environment.
Story of experience of risk, relocation and/or exile
Artist’s account: As the full-scale invasion began, I lost my job and all sources of income. Russian missile attacks damaged many buildings around me. This threat is still present through periodic attacks for all who live in Kyiv. Despite all the above, making art is still important for me. After all, this is the only thing left of a “normal” life. Therefore, working for three months during the residency at Ostriv Platform and learning new skills was quite an important experience for me.
Projects created during the residency period
Volt Agapeyev: Votives are things offered as a gift to a deity for healing or fulfillment of some wish. The use of votive objects remains a sacred gesture and a softened form of sacrifice. Voltives are a transformed version of this ritual. Each sculpture is a kind of amulet capable of warding off future blackouts. Speculative sacredness finds a place in the combination of archaic forms and various elements of modern electrical networks.
This programme is organized by Perpetuum Mobile (PM) as part of the Artists at Risk (AR)-Network in partnership with UNESCO and with the support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Teiger Foundation.
