Stanislava Pinchuk in the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Free/State

6 Mar 2022

In synchronicity with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Stanislava Pinchuk is presenting her piece The Wine Dark Sea in Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Free/State at Art Gallery of South Australia.

Pinchuk, a Ukrainian-born Australian artist, is ubiquitous for exploring the dynamic topographies of war and conflict zones. Pinchuk survey methods in which landscape holds memory through a multidisciplinary approach that spans drawing, installation, tattooing, film and sculpture. It is through her practice, she unveils a testament of political events and violations of human rights.

Carved onto the marble columns that comprise The Wine Dark Sea are passages extracted from Homer’s Odyssey, interpolated with near-identical phrases from leaked cables and notes from investigative journalists, these originating from Australia’s offshore detention centres, at Nauru and Manus Island. The marble components are stackable and can be arranged arbitrarily, recalling a tradition whereby visitors rearrange the stones on what is believed to be Homer’s grave on the Greek island of Ios. The installation is an attempt to play with forms, inscriptions, and meaning; poetically and physically.

The Wine Dark Sea is part of the The Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Free/State and will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of South Australia until 5 June 2022.

Image: Portrait of Stanislava Pinchuk with her sculptural installation, The Wine Dark Sea, 2022 at Art Gallery of South Australia | Photo by Saul Steed