Turning Toward the Light (2025)
Hooks-Epstein Galleries, Inc., Houston, TX
Exhibition invitation card PDF
Artist statement: Turning Toward the Light — Hooks-Epstein (2025) PDF
Feature Article: HOOKEPSTEINGALLERIES.COM: "Turning Toward the Light" (c. 2025)
Review: Donna Tennant's review in Visual Art Source e-Newsletter | PDF
"Turning Toward the Light" explores Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak’s reflections on the war in Ukraine, offering a layered visual tribute to Ukraine’s fight for freedom. Her works aim to shift focus from darkness to light, evoking emotion, wonder, and discussions about humanity's place in the world. As a Ukrainian American and child of WWII refugees, she examines cultural, societal, and political issues through her personal lens, bearing witness to historic events that resonate universally.
Bodnar-Balahutrak uses collage, text, and figuration, layering historic and current media with oil paint, resins, charcoal, and pastels. Her nature-inspired imagery evolves through improvisation, revealing themes of destruction and renewal. A series on charred wood panels incorporates resins, plants, seeds, and ashes, symbolizing both devastation and regeneration. The exhibition highlights the strength and hope embodied in flora, mainly sunflowers, as symbols of healing, unity, and sustenance.
In this exhibition, the artist introduces a series centered on sunflowers, a motif rich with symbolism and deeply embedded in her current artistic exploration. Sunflowers instinctively turn their heads toward the light and serve as a poignant metaphor for resilience, hope, and the human capacity to seek growth even in adversity. Their unyielding pursuit of sunlight echoes the broader themes of her work—an insistence on moving toward clarity and purpose amid the shadows of conflict and destruction. This metaphor weaves through her creations, imbuing them with a quiet but profound reminder of humanity's enduring connection to light, renewal, and an unwavering desire to overcome.
