This exhibition explores memory, family heritage, and the search for lost connections. Political upheavals, wars, and forced migrations have fractured multigenerational families, leaving lasting imprints on future generations. How would branches endure when the roots were severed? How can one reconnect with the past when it is lost or fragmented?

Born in Kazakhstan, where my grandparents were forcefully displaced, I lived in four countries, and currently I’m residing in the U.S. Separation from family is not always a voluntary choice. In these situations, the theme of identity and belonging becomes especially significant. There is no future without the past. I feel it is highly important to acknowledge the depth, layers, and complexity of family legacy, memory, and history.

My creative process includes collecting and assembling mixed media objects and pieces into collages. I paint, draw, glue, and put different parts together. This symbolic activity represents introspection, exploration, and recognition of my feelings and experiences stemming from a lack of belonging to a multi-generational family. Through collages with real family photos, narrative paintings, and object installations I’m reviving the missing roots and attaching those branches and sprouts that have been cut off due to historic events. I’m pondering what my family and dwelling would have been if not for my moves and detachments from family roots.