Tetiana Kononenko (Tanta) | "Boundaries of Pain"

"Boundaries of Pain"

Sumy 2022

This series is about a full-scale war that has burst into everyday life, leaving behind ruins, blurred boundaries of reality, and a constant sense of danger.

War is chaotic. Events unfold simultaneously in different places, memories blend with the present, light breaks through the darkness but does not always signify a way out. This series is about moments – painful, piercing, all too real.

I created this series after the first month of the war. I took photos from peaceful life and translated them into black-and-white with red – colors that reflect a change in perception of reality. Through these images, I wanted to convey the pain of what happened, to visually release it.

Each piece is a captured moment of loss, trauma, and shattered connections between the past and the present.

In "Borders of Pain" there are no geographical boundaries - it is a map of inner state. Colors and shapes speak of trauma, loss, search for home, vulnerability, which is now part of reality.

Some works echo each other, creating a rhythm reminiscent of a stream of memories:
– Suns - as a symbol of life and destruction.
– Silhouettes of those who are leaving, but the destination is unknown.
– Torn spaces that have no end.

"Borders of Pain" is not just visual images, but a reflection on a change in perception. When the familiar world collapses, even colors become different.
Red here is not only aggression and blood, but also the inevitable presence of war in every moment.

This series does not provide answers. It simply captures the state.

BORDERS is about:

Physical boundaries that blur or, conversely, become impassable. War changes the borders of cities, countries, lives.
Psychological boundaries that a person either forcibly expands or closes off. It is the point where pain either passes through you or stops, becoming part of you.
The gap between what was and what is, between the past and the present, between normalcy and war.

PAIN is about:

Personal experience of war - everyone experiences it in their own way, but pain is always present.
Collective trauma - pain that has become part of the entire country.
Uncertainty - pain has no clear boundaries, it spreads, it does not end in one moment.

"Borders of Pain" is not about the end, but about the process.
It is about the constant balancing between what can be endured and what lies beyond. Where does the pain end? Where does something else begin? And is it possible to pass through it?

Image of "Boundaries of Pain" by Tetiana Kononenko (Tanta), a Projects, based in Sumy, created in 08.02.2025