The Art Newspaper commends Stanislava Pinchuk for The Wine Dark Sea

9 Mar 2022

The recent atrocities such as the fatal cruise missile attack on Freedom Square in Stanislava Pinchuk’s the home town of Kharkiv, have been the “unthinkable” said the artist. While it remains an unfathomable tragedy, her work, The Wine Dark Sea, resonates eerily with the ordered invasion of Russia’s neighbour, intertwining the “narratives we choose to accept and celebrate, and those we choose to ignore,” she said.

In addition to the roots in Homer’s Odyssey and revaluating Nauru journal, The Wine Dark Sea has a universality quality, made ambiguous to connect to the ubiquitious struggle of forced displacement in a journey of seeking safety, shelter and freedom. Pinchuk states that “This could be a work about Manus/Nauru [Australia’s offshore detention centres], it could be a work about Ukraine, about Syria, about Yemen, about Palestine, about Bosnia. A myriad of places.”

Sebastian Goldspink, the curator of the Adelaide Biennial, comments: “A work like Stanislava’s, which speaks to the universal experience of having to leave home through turmoil, is something that unfortunately is always relevant.”

While afflictions persist in Ukraine, her piece emerges a beacon, illuminating the tribulation of the lost. Art Gallery of South Australia’s director Rhana Devenport comments “She’s always been focused on giving voice to those who are voiceless or have little access to be heard.” She adds that The Wine Dark Sea was “exquisitely beautiful” as well as operating as a portal to enduring themes of home and journey.

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

Image: detail of Stanislava Pinchuk, The Wine Dark Sea, 2021, series of 24 engraved marble and enamel sculptures, dimensions variable: ranging from 130 x 31.5 x 31.5 cm to 16.5 x 20 x 20 cm | Photo by Matthew Stanton