Zhanna Kadyrova transmits a vitality, and commitment to her work, that almost escapes understanding, considering that she lives and works in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city and the target of indiscriminate missile attacks. A classically trained sculptor, she likes to use heavy materials, such as stone, concrete, and ceramic tiles, and, before the Russian invasion, she preferred to develop site-specific installations, often employing found materials, rescued plants, and collected fragments of road asphalt. Since the beginning of the war, her work has become increasingly focused—serious and sardonic, in equal measure—starting with the stone bread loaves of Palianytsia (2022) and Russian Rocket (2022), a series of stickers that when placed on vehicle windows simulate the flight of ballistic missiles. While the stickers themselves remain static, the moving vehicle creates the illusion of a missile slicing through a peaceful landscape. These defiant gestures, like much of Kadyrova’s recent work, offer a certain gallows humor for those under siege, while viscerally conveying the realities of war to audiences who remain unaffected.
John Gayer: I am curious to learn more about the connections that define The Forest, the video installation you produced for the IHME Helsinki Commission 2025. It was shown in the city’s Power Station Museum, which occupies a historical steam power plant. How did this project come about, and could you explain the various aspects that fed into it?
Zhanna Kadyrova: The Forest deals with the history and consequences of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine, which was built in the 1950s and destroyed in June 2023 during the Russian invasion. . .
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