Sasha Kurmaz: Red Horse
Red Horse is an ongoing project initiated after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Conceived as a visual diary, the work unfolds through a series of collages that offer a first-hand account of life in Ukraine and its continuous transformation under the destructive force of war.
Working with collage as his primary method, the artist combines a wide range of materials and documents — including documentary photographs, personal notes, drawings, found images, and objects collected from the street. Through this layered process, the work forms an evolving artistic archive in which the artist records both his own daily experience and that of the people around him as they attempt to endure life under constant threat.
To date, the project comprises 495 original collages of varying sizes.
Winner of the Grand Prix Images Vevey 2023/2024, Red Horse by Sasha Kurmaz continues to expand as a personal and collective testimony, tracing how everyday life is reshaped by the ongoing violence of war.
About the Author
Sasha Kurmaz (b. 1986, Kyiv, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian interdisciplinary artist and photographer who lives and works in Kyiv. His practice combines photography, collage, video, performance, and public interventions to explore the relationship between individuals, public space, and social structures. Kurmaz began his artistic trajectory in the early 2000s within Kyiv’s graffiti scene before studying design at the National Academy of Culture and Arts Management in Kyiv. His work addresses political and social transformations in contemporary Ukrainian society and has been exhibited internationally at institutions and festivals including C/O Berlin, ZKM Karlsruhe, Museum Folkwang, and the Saatchi Gallery. In 2023 he received the Grand Prix Images Vevey for his ongoing project Red Horse.
