The Story Began with a Beet, It Must End with the Devil (2015)

Solo Exhibition presented by Pangée, Montréal November 5th to December 22, 2015

"The Tale Began with a Beet (It Must end with the Devil) focuses on the nature of the present by acknowledging and echoing the past. Challenging the fleeting nature of heritage, Dmyterko visits blurred memories and traditions from personal family histories. Addressing the uncontrollable and unchangeable by juxtaposing it with the notion of comfort in the past, this exploration is realized both through a series of oil paintings titled 'Missed en Abyme,' as well as through three sets of 35mm photographs: 'Forget Them Not,' 'Ode to Olga' and 'Vinok.'

In the series of large oil paintings titled 'Missed en Abyme,' each canvas is composed of separate frames so that the concept is not derived from one isolated image, rather through a contemplation of connections created using collage. The title refers to the French ‘Mise en Abyme’ which translates to ‘placed in the abyss.’ This is a technique where an image or narrative is embedded within itself, creating a sense of infinite repetition or self-reference. The images in these paintings are collaged onto the canvases in a nonuniform orientation, a decision made to reflect the way that the processing of hurried digital media feels: overwhelming. In the paintings, there are a wide array of references including Wild at Heart by David Lynch, Gerhard Richter’s Kerze Candles, the film ‘Control’ about Joy Division, symbolic landscapes, Ukrainian clubs, Orthodox churches, spaghetti westerns – all images I found through sharing or saving from social media or deep dive searches.

'Forget Them Not' is a series of photographs taken in rural Saskatchewan. It documents abandoned towns and homes in an area densely populated by first wave Ukrainian immigrants. By photographing forgotten homes and emptied towns, she erects them as historical monuments to the Ukrainian-Canadian experience.

'Ode to Olga' is a documentation of the artist’s grandmother's home prior to the removal of its contents shortly after her passing. Dmyterko’s choice of 35 mm film is intentional as an aesthetic extension reflecting the past.

'Vinok 'is an appropriation of a Ukrainian springtime tradition where young women bind flowers into wreaths with the intent of casting them down a river to be captured by their future husband. The artist presents a photographic time lapse of a wreath created, let to wither then released in the vast Atlantic, which re-orients the narrative, suggesting the excessive pressure beset upon females to find a partner.

Dmyterko’s painting series 'The Dead Leave Us Starving with Mouths Full of Love,' presented as part of this exhibition, won the art competition Polska Free 25. Focussing on the diasporic experience, the work fabricates scenes mixing imagery from the contemporary Ukrainian crisis with imagery portraying the artist's romantic understanding of her culture as an Ukrainian-Canadian.