Thresholds Of Abstraction, 2023
Artist Statement
As an immigrant, I am perpetually searching for a place that feels like home, and my creative expression stems from this longing. Although my work is not a direct commentary on my experiences as a refugee, it serves as a metaphor for emotions that crystallize within when we search for our place in the world. The ethereal, poetically layered landscapes and bird photographs I create symbolize the complexities that shape and color our perception of reality, as we all perceive the world through a unique and individual lens.
Through my work I explore themes of memory, perception, belonging, and nostalgia, gently unraveling the trauma of displacement. Layer by layer, I seek to rebuild the fragmented soul by filling in the gaps left by upheaval and disruption, restoring a sense of wholeness and continuity aligned with the natural world. I attempt to ignite a dialogue between internal and external landscapes, transcending the boundaries of reality and imagination. My work is a meditation on the poignant duality of beauty intertwined with a sense of nostalgia, which the dislocated, like myself, are destined to inhabit.
My practice is often informed by site-specific work. The preparation for a new project involves immersing myself in a landscape, spending many hours listening, contemplating, and investigating. To capture the dreamlike landscapes, I employ a range of techniques, including tilt-shift lenses, makeshift filters, and in-camera multi-exposures. The intuitive nature of my creative process is a means of transcendence, healing, and revelation of the extraordinary.
Elena Lyakir, b. 1975, Ukraine
Lyakir's creative journey began in Soviet Ukraine, where she spent her formative years. Despite restrictions on artistic expression, the mystical undercurrents of her culture’s literary tradition—often conveyed through symbolism and metaphor—ignited a creative spark that continues to shape the emotional and visual language of her work.
In 1990, Lyakir immigrated to the United States with her family. The experience of leaving her homeland and adapting to a new culture profoundly influenced her artistic vision. Themes of exile, longing, memory, and belonging remain central to her practice, infusing her work with emotional depth.
Arriving alone in New York City at eighteen, she worked as a model and photographer’s assistant before immersing herself in the Lower East Side’s avant-garde art scene. Experimenting with photography, collage, painting, performance, and alternative printing processes, she developed a distinctive multidisciplinary practice through independent study and artistic collaboration.
Lyakir’s work has been exhibited internationally in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Berlin, Paris, Avignon, Sydney, Istanbul, East Hampton, and Sag Harbor. Her work was also the subject of a solo museum exhibition at the Maison de la Photographie in Lille, France. Her photographs are held in private and corporate collections including Coca-Cola, HBC Financial, and Dartmouth Hitchcock, and appear in public spaces such as Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s ABC Kitchen and Omni and Hilton resorts. Her image The Final Unknown is included in the acclaimed Your Daily Photograph collection. Her work has been featured in ELLE Décor, Architectural Digest, Aspire Magazine, Objekt, InStyle, Art Daily, Artsy, Art Fuse, and Photographie au Féminin.
Today, Elena divides her time between Brooklyn and southern Vermont, drawing inspiration from both the energy of urban life and the quiet rhythms of the natural landscape.
Affiliations:
Cynthia Byrnes Contemporary, New York, NY
Sara Nightingale Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
Galerie Claude Samuel, Paris, France
Maison de la Photographie, Lille, France
HLK Art Advisory, New York, NY
BAM Art Advisory, Larchmont, NY