Katya Lesiv — You can spend a night in the Villa, 2022-2024

“You can spend a night in the Villa. I will make you some tea. Musta tai vihreä tai kamomilla (black, green or chamomile).” These were the words that welcomed Katya Lesiv and her daughter Rada to Villa Eläintarha in May 2022, after they had fled Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion. Villa Eläintarha is an artist residency housed in a nineteenth-century wooden house in central Helsinki, where artists from different disciplines live together for periods of varying length. Its carefully preserved historic interiors heightened Lesiv’s sense of dwelling between times and places. Returning over the following months, she photographed the Villa, the surrounding park and her walks through Helsinki. Shown here as a loose constellation across a single wall, the photographs record ordinary moments: practising yoga, cutting hair, resting, walking or looking out across Töölönlahti Bay.

Through analog photography, artists’ books and installation, Katya Lesiv explores cyclicality, embodiment and motherhood, with a particular focus on presence and materiality. Performative methods, often rooted in everyday rituals, serve as a means of communicating intimate experiences while preserving personal privacy. The artist’s book often becomes the primary and final form of her work.