Dek Unu Magazine-Apr 2024-Artem Humilevskyi

Ukrainian artist-photographer Artem Humilevskyi is an antiwar photographer. "Roots" is his metaphorical exploration of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, now more than two years ago. In Humilevskyi’s work, vistas of generalized damage are replaced by carefully crafted metaphorical tableaux; journalism is replaced by deeply affecting visual poetry. Casting himself and his family, naked and vulnerable, and his country’s fertile beauty, in danger of ruin, he is, like fine artists back through time, not only pleading for an end to the war but also offering his art as a counter weapon. By turns caustic, humorous, appalled, and sad, Humilevskyi’s deeply personal images offer both resistance and hope, the essential parts of any path to peace.