So Close (detail), Ensnared (detail) and Swan Song
Ava Federov
So Close (Detail 1)
2023, Mixed media on canvas, 68” x 48”
Depicting bodies entangled in ghost nets, made monstrous by their entanglement and devastation at the mercy of industrial fishing.
Depicting bodies entangled in ghost nets, made monstrous by their entanglement and devastation at the mercy of industrial fishing.
So Close (Detail 3)
2023, Mixed media on canvas, 68” x 48”
Depicting bodies entangled in ghost nets, made monstrous by their entanglement and devastation at the mercy of industrial fishing.
Depicting bodies entangled in ghost nets, made monstrous by their entanglement and devastation at the mercy of industrial fishing.
Ensnared (detail)
2021, Mixed media on canvas, 100" x 65"
These two paintings are non-identical mirror images representing aquatic bodies entangled/ensnared in ghost nets—plastic bi-products of industrial fishing that continue to wreak havoc in ocean ecosystems. Details of the paintings show the intricate line work that contrasts with deeper areas of light and dark. This painting was made with layers and layers of glazing that allows the blue to hold light and mimic the way light shines through water.
These two paintings are non-identical mirror images representing aquatic bodies entangled/ensnared in ghost nets—plastic bi-products of industrial fishing that continue to wreak havoc in ocean ecosystems. Details of the paintings show the intricate line work that contrasts with deeper areas of light and dark. This painting was made with layers and layers of glazing that allows the blue to hold light and mimic the way light shines through water.
Swan Song
2020, Mixed Media on Paper, 13" x 10"
Part of a series depicting sea level rise and the arts/music scene of Honolulu’s Chinatown. Each work directly references a song written by a local artist. The geographic coordinates represent the locations of music venues that will be underwater by 2050.
Part of a series depicting sea level rise and the arts/music scene of Honolulu’s Chinatown. Each work directly references a song written by a local artist. The geographic coordinates represent the locations of music venues that will be underwater by 2050.
Artist’s Statement:
My work demonstrates how we are mirrors of our environment as much as extensions of its ecologies. The devaluation of nature’s critical cycles stems from the same extractive, colonizing systems that devalue non-western and feminist perspectives. My art expresses ways of knowing that are woven into habitats shrinking from every direction.
My paintings, installations, and writing depict landscapes as overlaid arrangements of human and non-human life. Through this process, I develop an expanded definition of what comprises landscape while conjuring the pain of only realizing the vast importance of something the moment it vanishes.