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As Ukraine marks its Independence Day, artist Lesia Khomenko is bringing powerful new meaning to one of the country’s busiest public spaces.

Khomenko has turned the main hall of Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi train station into her temporary studio, creating a 21-by-12 metre painting that mirrors the movement and spirit of a nation fighting for its survival.

Installed in partnership with Ukrainian Railways, the work marks a bold return to public art for the artist and arrives just ahead of her upcoming solo exhibition at the PinchukArtCentre, opening 28 August. 

“The Central Train Station in Kyiv is a very emotional place for everyone whose life dramatically changed through the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine,” Khomenko tells Euronews Culture. “Every day I see a lot of families and injured soldiers here. I also break into tears when I arrive or leave Kyiv. It’s very difficult to stay a critical artist in such a public place.” 

The vast composition depicts an ascending escalator filled with blurred figures – soldiers, railway workers, medics, war photographers – all based on real people who took part in a photoshoot for the piece. Khomenko says their movement symbolises collective effort, history in motion, and the near-impossibility of fully understanding a moment while still living within it. 

“The motion effect turns the group of people into a united body that looks quite abstract with no clear boundaries,” she says. “It’s about time and the impossibility to capture the historical moment while being inside the moment.” 

The painting greets travellers as they descend into the hall from the station escalators, with giant chandeliers partly obscuring their first view before the full image is revealed – transforming a journey (whether it be an everyday commute, or perhaps a longer journey into Ukraine) into a quiet act of reflection.

“I imagine passengers who have just arrived in Kyiv and stepped on the escalator… I think it could be interesting. I’m expecting that passengers could project depicted characters on themself: ‘Wow, it could be me!’” 

Though its unveiling coincides with Independence Day, Khomenko notes the timing was a “lucky coincidence” – but one that brings meaningful resonance. The work is part of a special public commission linked to her upcoming solo exhibition at the PinchukArtCentre, opening 28 August. 

“I was dreaming about such an opportunity for a while,” she tells Euronews Culture. “I think that institutional space is very safe for any kind of artistic gesture. But in a public space, the artwork is facing real life and becomes part of the architecture.” 

Björn Geldhof, artistic director of the PinchukArtCentre, says the station work expands Khomenko’s practice beyond the gallery, building on Ukraine’s rich – but ideologically fraught – tradition of public art. 

“Khomenko’s temporal installation consciously engages with this tradition while simultaneously rejecting its ideological past,” he explains. “This monumental work engages directly with broad audiences. It depicts an abstract portrayal of Ukrainian society in a continued and unified motion, defending itself from the outside while protecting its fundamental democratic values.”

By introducing a new visual language deliberately detached from ideology, her work puts the human experience – the act of painting itself – at the centre,” he adds. 

Back in the gallery, Khomenko’s upcoming solo show “Without Distances” presents a comprehensive view of her career from 2006 to date. It includes works from the “Giants and Max in the Army” series, and introduces a major new immersive installation titled “Battle in the Trench”. 

A 30-metre long painting shaped like a trench, the piece invites visitors to walk through it before stepping up to a balcony to see it from above – blurring the line between viewer and participant. 

“The idea came from an imaginary theatre where the public watches the play only from the balcony… So first people will walk through my installation and then they will go up to the balcony to see the work from above,” Khomenko explains. 

For Khomenko, the power of art – especially painting – in wartime lies in its ability to provoke thought and deepen empathy. 

“Art is very important for maintaining and developing critical thinking, imagination and attention,” she says. 

The PinchukArtCentre, a major force in contemporary art in Central and Eastern Europe, continues to support Ukrainian voices through its exhibitions, prizes, and partnerships – including this collaboration with Ukrainian Railways. 

As Geldhof tells Euronews Culture: “The Ukrainian Railways and ourselves share a mutual understanding and belief that art provides a critical role in keeping a society under stress healthy and self-critical.” 

“Today, because of the war, many people have no opportunity to visit exhibitions, museums, or live an artistic life. That is why we want art to come to them,” CEO of Ukrainian Railways, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, says. “Even if they stop at the station for just a minute, and see a work of art that makes them reflect, pause, smile, or feel joy that Ukrainian contemporary art is alive – that fulfils the mission.”

Lesia Khomenko’s solo show opens at the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv on 28 August 2025.