Scars II

"Scars" is a long-running series (2014-present) of sculptures depicting the hands and feet of Maria Kulikovska, made from ballistic soap. The first part of the sculptural installation from this series was created in the summer of 2014, after Maria Kulikovska learned about the shooting of her sculptures at the Art Center "Isolation" in Donetsk and the transformation of the space into an illegal prison and concentration camp by the self-proclaimed terrorist state "dpr" (donetsk people's republic), instead of an arts and culture center, to torture pro-Ukrainian activists. Additionally, this series touches on Maria's inability to return to her native Crimea after its occupation by the russian federation. Later (autumn 2015), Maria learned that armed companies were using soap to test weapons before sending them to conflict zones. That is why all these years, she continued to use ballistic soap to create numerous sculptures and figures resembling her own body or its parts. Filling space with figures/clones made from ballistic soap or epoxy resin became a metaphorical artistic method for the Crimean artist to define her own physical existence, reminding the world of the ongoing war, despite any social status as an emigrant, migrant, or displaced person. Moreover, these sculptures became a poignant reminder that she exists and is alive, while she remembers the millions who were forced to leave their homes, those who stayed amidst the ruins of their dwellings, those who have passed away, been killed, or lost limbs, defending the living every day...