Stone and heart
The text blends French and Ukrainian: stanzas about a grandmother counting stones on a wall in Ternopil, lines about the heart that « weighs like a warm pebble in the palm » after a night alert. The layout mimics collage: cut-out words, fragments of a building blueprint found in rubble from a neighbouring construction site, an ochre watercolour stain like plaster dust hanging in the basement air.
The work is the living metaphor of the Against Stones programme: turning the heavy into light, giving grief a shape without taming it. Participants read the poem in a quiet circle; town crier Volodymyr later recited it on Kontraktova square. Stone and heart — matter and pulse, mineral cold and human warmth that refuse to part.
Artist Stories
Associated Media
Intimate overhead photograph of French-Ukrainian poem calligraphy on cotton paper, indigo ink, torn blueprint fragments collaged beneath text, smooth river pebble resting on sternum-shaped stain, ochre watercolor dust, stone and heart metaphor, Podil workshop table with scattered glyphs, soft side light, shallow depth of field, art therapy Against Stones branding subtle on folder corner.
Documentary wide shot, circle of eight participants seated on wooden chairs in mirror-walled Podil basement, each holding a smooth pebble on chest, facilitator in background, breathing exercise moment, mixed ages, winter clothing, generator cable visible, warm human dignity, Ukrainian wartime art therapy, no sensationalism.
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