Ukrainian Artist Azya Kozina’s Metropolitan Paper Sculpture Symbolizes The Resistance To The Occupation Of Ukraine

Ukrainian creative and contemporary artist Asya Kozina is focused on exploring the possibilities of modern paper sculpture. Kozina’s interests lie in cultural research, archiving, and documenting various historical, traditional, and artistic representations through paper. Known for her incredible, gravity-defying baroque wigs and extravagant Mongolian wedding gowns, one of Kozina’s recent projects might be the most personal one yet. 

The Metropolitan paper costume was created by Kozina at the request of the You are the Angel nonprofit organization – that helps deliver food and medical supplies, and evacuate people in Ukraine – as part of an international competition at LA’s Metropolitan Fashion Week in 2022. The theme of the competition was the architecture of the country. “I chose a house with chimeras, which is located opposite the president’s office in Kyiv, which became one of the symbols of resistance to the occupation of Ukraine. The costume was designed and built in the conditions of war, among air raids and the sounds of explosions”, Kozina writes. 

What is the home for me? It is warm, welcoming, friendly, safe, reliable, ordinary, or whimsical…it is different what we are

“In the early twentieth century, the genius architect Vladyslav Horodetsky worked on the territory of Ukraine. His incredible buildings adorn only a few cities and villages of our state, but he became famous throughout the cultural world. I am lucky to live next to the masterpieces of Horodetsky and constantly admire the harmony of proportions and lines of the Art Nouveau style, in which the artist worked. But in his art, there is a building, which has no analogues in the world of architecture. It doesn’t belong to any single style. It was created contrary to the laws of nature and technical means known at that time”. Watch the video below where the artist talks about the project in full.

I chose a house with chimeras, which is located opposite the president’s office in Kyiv, which became one of the symbols of resistance to the occupation of Ukraine. The costume was designed and built in the conditions of war, among air raids and the sounds of explosions.

Inspired by the uniquely beautiful architecture of the “house with chimeras” by Vladyslav Horodetsky, and its unmatched significance as a center of cultural and social events in peacetime – and now, during the current war, as the symbol of invincibility and resistance of the Ukrainian people – Kozina created a stunning, wearable paper sculpture, that reminds us all of the strength and beauty of the Ukrainian people, culture, and country. Follow Kozina on Instagram for her latest and future endeavors.